European health insurance for travellers
Going to a doctor in a foreign country can be a difficult and sometimes very confusing experience. To help patients and ensure proper reimbursement of the costs, the European Committee for Standardisation, CEN, will start work on the harmonisation and...
Going to a doctor in a foreign country can be a difficult and sometimes very confusing experience. To help patients and ensure proper reimbursement of the costs, the European Committee for Standardisation, CEN, will start work on the harmonisation and establishment of an electronic European Health Insurance Card (eEHIC).
As of June 1, 2004, European citizens travelling within the European Economic Area (European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, whether for private or professional reasons, are being issued with a European Health Insurance Card, which simplifies the procedure for receiving any medical care that might become necessary during a temporary stay in another country.
The European Health Insurance Card, which replaced the paper forms €111, E110, €128 and partially €119, in its present phase (eye-readable only), represents a first step towards simplification, which is essential in order to study and start preparing procedures for the electronic exchange and processing of data via the European Health Insurance Card.
A second step towards simplification is an electronic EHIC (eEHIC): which can be electronically read in the premises of the Healthcare Providers (general practitioners, pharmacists, hospitals, dentists ...) equipped with the appropriate card reader and whose validity can, under certain conditions and depending on the member states, be verified on-line.
This has been mentioned for the first time in the Communication of the European Commission 2003/0073 Final concerning the introduction of a European health insurance card. Other technological solutions may be possible such as mobile phones as media carrying the data, scanning of the card with OCR tools etc. but this is out of the scope of the work done here.
The European Commission, Directorate General Employment has asked CEN to develop a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) that will lead to the creation of that electronic card. In a first inventory phase, the CEN workshop will review, complement and validate the list of available or required standards. In a second standardisation phase, the workshop will identify any missing necessary specifications to be drawn up as part of the CEN Workshop Agreement.
The workshop is open to participation from all interested parties. The kick-off meeting will take place on April 24, 2007 in Brussels.
CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation), the European Committee for Standardisation, was founded in 1961 by the national standards bodies in the European Economic Community and EFTA countries. It supports the policies of the European Union and EFTA, in particular for free trade, but also the safety of workers and consumers, interoperability of networks, environmental protection, exploitation of research and development programmes, and public procurement.
• Ing. Francis E. Farrugia is the chairman of the Malta Standards Authority. For further information contact francis.farrugia@msa.org.mt
As of June 1, 2004, European citizens travelling within the European Economic Area (European Union, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and Switzerland, whether for private or professional reasons, are being issued with a European Health Insurance Card, which simplifies the procedure for receiving any medical care that might become necessary during a temporary stay in another country.
The European Health Insurance Card, which replaced the paper forms €111, E110, €128 and partially €119, in its present phase (eye-readable only), represents a first step towards simplification, which is essential in order to study and start preparing procedures for the electronic exchange and processing of data via the European Health Insurance Card.
A second step towards simplification is an electronic EHIC (eEHIC): which can be electronically read in the premises of the Healthcare Providers (general practitioners, pharmacists, hospitals, dentists ...) equipped with the appropriate card reader and whose validity can, under certain conditions and depending on the member states, be verified on-line.
This has been mentioned for the first time in the Communication of the European Commission 2003/0073 Final concerning the introduction of a European health insurance card. Other technological solutions may be possible such as mobile phones as media carrying the data, scanning of the card with OCR tools etc. but this is out of the scope of the work done here.
The European Commission, Directorate General Employment has asked CEN to develop a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) that will lead to the creation of that electronic card. In a first inventory phase, the CEN workshop will review, complement and validate the list of available or required standards. In a second standardisation phase, the workshop will identify any missing necessary specifications to be drawn up as part of the CEN Workshop Agreement.
The workshop is open to participation from all interested parties. The kick-off meeting will take place on April 24, 2007 in Brussels.
CEN (Comité Européen de Normalisation), the European Committee for Standardisation, was founded in 1961 by the national standards bodies in the European Economic Community and EFTA countries. It supports the policies of the European Union and EFTA, in particular for free trade, but also the safety of workers and consumers, interoperability of networks, environmental protection, exploitation of research and development programmes, and public procurement.
• Ing. Francis E. Farrugia is the chairman of the Malta Standards Authority. For further information contact francis.farrugia@msa.org.mt