Enforcement of the right to medical care for patients staying abroad

Abstract

Introduction: The right to health care is one of the fundamental human rights, at the same time the right to medical care is the main component of such right. The issue of medical care obtaining while staying in the territory of a foreign country is relevant for all categories of foreign nationals – those who during a temporary being outside their own country have a need to receive unplanned or planned medical care. The aim: To study the peculiarities of enforcement of the right to medical care for patients staying abroad and to formulate proposals on legislation improvements on the basis of the analysis of the international law and national legislation of the European Union countries. Materials and methods: International acts and practice of the European Union legislation application in the eld of patients’ rights protection abroad were used in the study. The methodology of the study is based on a combination of philosophical approaches, general scienti c and special legal research methods. Conclusions: On the basis of the international treaties, the practice of application of the European Union legislation analysis we can conclude that in the EU the right of an insured person (patient) while receiving unplanned medical care in another EU Member State is ensured by a number of regulatory requirements and con rmed by the European Medical Insurance Card.