Getting treated abroad- a simpler process

What are my healthcare rights when travelling abroad? Can I receive the same care as at home?

These were among the questions raised at the national healthcare conference in Mondorf-les-Bains on June 15.

Patients attempting to understand their rights to medical treatment abroad within the EU have had to seek out answers themselves in the past.

But, from October 25, 2013, this is set to change in Luxembourg as a new European Directive comes into force.

The law will oblige Luxembourg's health care system, along with equivalent bodies in other EU countries, to improve cooperation and communication in order to provide the best care for patients.

Under the ruling, patients from Luxembourg will be given clearer information on precise treatments available abroad. Patients from outside the country also stand to benefit.

The law will mean that prescriptions from abroad (but within the EU) must be recognised in the Grand Duchy.

This will require improved technology and an online information bank along with associated infrastructure to ensure that relevant information is exchanged between Luxembourg and the patient's country of origin.

Directorate General for Health and Consumers at the European Commission Annika Nowak was quick to point out that the directive does not give patients carte blanche to charge foreign health treatments back to their country of origin.

Specific national rules regarding reimbursement of treatments will remain in force. Meanwhile, authorities retain the right to refuse treatment to certain patients in specific circumstances.

Finally, the directive ensures that all patients should expect to receive the same level of medical care abroad as they would in their country of origin.