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The implementation of European Union (EU) rules on cross-border care: moving towards convergence?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2018

Zuzana Nordeng  and
Frode Veggeland
Zuzana Nordeng*
Affiliation:
Researcher, Western Norway Research Institute, Sogndal, Norway
Frode Veggeland
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
*
*Correspondence to: Zuzana Nordeng, Researcher, Western Norway Research Institute, Vestlandsforsking, Postboks 163, 6851Sogndal, Norway. Email: zuzanka01@gmail.com, zno@vestforsk.no
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Abstract

This article studies the implementation of the European Union (EU)’s Patients’ Rights Directive in Germany and Norway. The objective of the Directive was to allow EU member states to have a say in the regulatory work, ensure predictability and uniformity in the application of EU rules on cross-border care, and enhance a move towards EU harmonisation in this area. So far, the implementation processes in Norway and Germany have mixed results regarding the likelihood of achieving uniformity and harmonisation. Although the Directive has had convergent effects on certain areas of cross-border care, such as setting up National Contact Points and providing patients with the basic right to treatment abroad, implementation also shows divergent patterns. In both countries, adapting to EU rules has strengthened patients’ rights to choose freely among health-service providers in a wider European health-service market. However, due to legal discretion and country-specific institutions within which the new rules are applied, divergent patterns prevail.

Keywords

convergencecross-border careEUs patients’ rights directiveGermanyimplementationNorway
Type
Articles
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , April 2020 , pp. 141 - 159
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018

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