European Union health systems and the case of Yvonne Watts.

摘要

On May 16, 2006, the European Court of Justice pronounced its judgment on the case of Yvonne Watts,a British woman with osteoarthritis of the hips. She had asked the UK's National Health Service (NHS) for approval to be operated on outside the UK owing to the long waiting list in her home country, but the NHS did not accept her application. Watts paid for the operation in France herself and then claimed for a refund of the costs.The European Court of Justice ruled that such a claim cannot be refused without establishing that the waiting time for treatment in the patient's country of residence "does not exceed the period which is acceptable on the basis of an objective medical assessment of the clinical needs of the person concerned". This ruling could have consequences for the British system, but also other Member States, particularly newly-joined countries.In Poland, the problem of long waiting lists is well known, especially for highly complicated procedures. At the same time, there are no clear rules for treating patients in a defined period of time. There is thus a danger that more patients will seek treatment abroad and then claim for a refund from the social health insurance in Poland. Since the Polish health system is underfinanced, this could further increase their debts and endanger public finances. Also, the range of publicly guaranteed health services isnot precisely defined in Poland, which could mean that the National Health Fund will have to refund procedures that are not contracted with Polish providers but are widely applied in other EU Member States.3We declare that we have no conflict of interest.