Public coverage of cross-border health care would help reduce waiting times
- 450,000 European patients had surgery outside their country of residence in 2022.
Montreal and Vancouver, September 11, 2024 – Allowing Canadian patients to get reimbursed from the government for care received outside the country – just like Europeans do – would help reduce waiting times, according to an economic note published jointly by the Montreal Economic Institute and SecondStreet.org this morning.
“Long waiting times for surgery in Canada have damaging effects on patients‘ health and quality of life,” says Frederik Cyrus Roeder, health economist and author of the study. “Allowing Canadian patients to seek treatment elsewhere would help them regain their health, while breaking the cycle of constant catching up in Canadian healthcare systems.”
Since 2011, European patients have been permitted to seek treatment in any EU member country and receive reimbursement of their medical expenses equivalent to what their national health insurance plan would have covered at home.
This mechanism is known as the “cross-border directive,” or the “patients’ rights directive.”
Thanks to this arrangement, 450,000 European patients were able to access elective surgery outside their country of residence in 2022. Nearly 80% of the requests submitted that year were approved.
The economist explains that a large part of the voluntary program’s success is due to the fact that it acts as a safety valve when healthcare systems are no longer delivering.
“Such a system is no more expensive for the public insurer, because the reimbursements provided cannot exceed the costs of delivering the same treatment in the local healthcare system,” explains Mr. Roeder. “Where this directive really comes into its own is when a healthcare system can no longer manage to treat patients within an acceptable timeframe.”
“Patients are then free to turn to other alternatives without having to pay a stiff price. It’s important to note that even patients who don’t want to travel for treatment still benefit from this as it helps shorten waiting lists.”
In 2023, more than four out of ten Canadian patients had to wait longer than the recommended time to obtain a knee replacement in Canada. For hip replacements, the figure was one in three.
The joint study by the MEI and SecondStreet.org is available here.
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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.
SecondStreet.org launched in 2019 to focus on researching how government policies affect everyday Canadians. In addition to policy research, we tell short stories featuring Canadians from coast-to-coast explaining how they’re affected by government policies.
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