The House of Lords EU Committee has welcomed a proposal from the European Commission for a Directive on patients' rights to cross-border healthcare to be implemented by 2011. The directive would cover in- patient and out-patient treatment, as well as dentistry.
Groupama Insurances is predicting a small, profitable industry-wide rise in rates for SME private medical insurance (PMI) in 2009. It sees the first signs from competitors that prices in the SME sector may be moving up.
The number of hospital beds per person in the UK is one of the lowest in Europe, according to figures obtained by Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley from the European Commission.
Nearly two thirds of all PMI holders find the number and variety of health insurance products on offer confusing, according to research from CS Healthcare.
Laing’s Healthcare Market Review 2008-2009 reports the first fall in private self-funded hospital treatment in recent years. However, this was countered by record spending by the NHS on hospital treatment for patients in private facilities.
Patients in ISTCs were healthier than those in NHS providers, had less severe preoperative symptoms and were more affluent, though the differences were small. With adjustment, patients undergoing joint replacements in NHS providers had poorer outcomes.