engleski

ELCHINOV CASE: NEW ISSUES, NEW MEMBER STATES, NEW PROBLEMS

After the series of ECJ judgments which were dealing with healthcare services, it is the Elchinov judgment which gave the summary of all relevant ECJ healthcare case-law and introduced the provisions of the Patients´ Rights Directive. The first generation of judgments where ECJ ruled within the question of the definition of healthcare services (Luisi and Carbone case, Grogan case) was followed by the ECJ judgments in cases dealing with the patients asking for the reimbursement of costs from the Member State of affiliation for medical treatment gained in the Member State of destination (Kohll case, Decker case). The main restrictions for the freedom to provide healthcare services recognized by ECJ is the national legislation that doesn´t guarantee the patient the same remuneration for the service received abroad as the remuneration that he is entitled to if the healthcare is received in the Member State of affiliation. Since the EU Member States apply different rules on reimbursement, the ECJ ruled that patients should not receive less that they would receive in their Member State of affiliation (Vanbraekel case). The authors in article analyze the ECJ judgment in Elchinov case and its impact on the Patients´ Rights Directive and new Member States regulation in the area of healthcare. The Patients´ Rights Directive can be foreseen as a result of abovementioned ECJ case law. Its objective is to establish a framework for cross-border healthcare, to set the rules that simplify the patient access to healthcare in another Member State and to define what kind of treatment the patients are entitled to in another Member State

healthcare services, EU, cross border, Elchinov judgment

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