What is available now?All Irish residents are entitled to get health care through the public system in countries of the European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland if you become ill or injured while on a temporary stay there.
In order to do so you need a European Health Insurance Card. These cards (you can apply one at www.ehic.ie) have replaced forms such as the E111. If you require specific hospital treatment that is not available in Ireland but is available in the EU, the Health Service Executive may assist you in providing it using a E112 form. To do so, your application needs to be assessed before you go abroad and a hospital consultant must certify that the treatment is not available in Ireland and that there is an urgent medical need for it.
What will change under the new system?
Patients will be able to receive treatment in another EU country and be reimbursed, without seeking the prior authorisation.
For hospital care, however, under certain circumstances a member state may decide to introduce a system in which patients require pre-approval.
Under the new European Commission proposals, patients will be asked to pay the cost of care to the healthcare provider up front, but will have these costs reimbursed by their home healthcare service. The patient will only be reimbursed up to the amount the treatment would cost in their home state.
For further information, visit the European Commission's website: http://ec.europa. eu/health/index_en.htm