5 European health insurance card
(24316)
6924/03
COM(03) 73
| Commission Communication on the introduction of a European health insurance card.
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| Legal base | — |
| Document originated | 17 February 2003
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| Deposited in Parliament | 4 March 2003
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| Department | Health |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 17 March 2003 and Minister's letter of 15 July 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information awaited
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Background
5.1 According to the Commission, the Barcelona meeting of the
European Council decided that, as part of the overall aim of removing
obstacles to geographical mobility by 2005, a European health
insurance card should be created, which would replace all the
paper forms currently needed for an individual to receive health
treatment in another Member State, thereby simplifying procedures,
but without changing existing rights and obligations. The Commission
has set out in this Communication ways in which this objective
might be achieved.
The current document
5.2 The Commission suggests that the introduction of a single,
personalised card should in the first instance replace by 1 June
2004 form E111, which covers those temporarily visiting another
Member State on holiday or business trips, and would involve either
adapting existing national cards or each Member State introducing
a new European card. At a later stage, other forms relating to
temporary stays would be included, such as those covering employees
posted to another country (E128), international road transport
(E110), students (E128) and job seekers (E119). Initially, the
card would provide information on its face, but the longer-term
aim is to have a smart card containing encoded information.
5.3 In putting forward its proposal, the Commission
recognises the great differences between the Member States' arrangements
in this area, and that any card at Community level will need to
take this diversity into account, with implementation being gradual
and flexible, and the means strictly proportional to the objective.
However, it also suggests that the European card would need to
have common features enabling it to be recognised and used in
all Member States, and that, in order to maximise its benefits,
certain other steps ought to be taken, such as providing the same
entitlement to all categories of insured persons, and reducing
the additional formalities imposed in some Member States when
health care is sought.
The Government's view
5.4 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 17 March 2003,
the Minister of State at the Department of Health (Mr John Hutton)
said that the proposal had a number of important policy implications
so far as the UK is concerned. He added that, whilst the Government
was generally supportive of proposals to simplify bureaucracy,
detailed consideration would need to be given to how such a card
should be produced in the UK, and that it would be important to
ensure that the financial and administrative burdens of producing
it, particularly in the case of a smart card, did not exceed the
benefits to citizens and the administration.
5.5 The Minister also indicated that a full Regulatory
Impact Assessment would be provided as soon as possible, and,
in view of this, we decided to defer our consideration of the
document until that was available. However, we have since received
a copy of a letter which the Minister sent on 15 July to the Chairman
of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union,
in which he explains that he is not yet in a position to provide
the promised Assessment because many of the practicalities involved
are still being examined.
5.6 More specifically, the Minister says that the
issues to be decided include identifying precisely to whom the
card should be issued — for example, whether to all UK residents,
or merely those who apply for it — its length of validity,
and whether it should be card, laminate or plastic. However, he
suggests that, although the extra costs which will undoubtedly
arise at the first stage of introduction in the UK cannot yet
be quantified accurately pending decisions on the numbers to be
issued, the production site and method, and a variety of technical
issues, there may be cost savings as current methods of issuing
paper forms run down. He also believes that any eventual movement
to an electronic card would have "substantial" cost
implications, partly from the need to produce such a card for
UK residents, but more particularly to enable those produced by
other Member States to be read by service providers in this country,
such as hospitals, general practitioners, dentists or pharmacists.
In addition, the Minister points out any smart card scheme would
need to take into account parallel developments across Government,
such as the Home Office's proposed entitlement cards scheme, and
that in practice this stage of the proposal is unlikely to come
about unless and until there is a perceived need for such an undertaking
for reasons of UK national policy and practice.
5.7 The Minister concludes by saying that work is
in hand to provide detailed cost information, and that he will
write further when this is available.
Conclusion
5.8 Unlike some of the more nebulous initiatives
undertaken by the Community, this measure would appear to be of
some direct and tangible benefit to individuals. However, we
note the practical concerns raised by the Minister, and that he
will be providing further information on the likely costs involved.
In view of this, we are at this stage simply reporting these
developments to the House, and will consider the matter again
when we have received the further information he has promised.
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