Bill Restricts Insurance Coverage for Some Appointments With Specialists
If patients want their appointments with specialists to be covered by state health insurance, they must get a note from their general practitioner, according to proposed legislation drafted by the Social Affairs Ministry.
The bill namely makes observation of chronically ill patients one of the duties of the GPs.
The ministry cited the need to increase the role of first-tier medical care and said it was to ensure better movement of patients within the health care system.
Patients will still be able to make appointments with specialists directly if they pay for the visit themselves.
In cases where a GP has referred a patient to a specialist and it turns out that the patient needs longer treatment, the specialist can make follow-up appointments without needing a separate note. This is the current rule as well.
If patients recover or improve in the interim and are assigned back to the GP, they will need to be referred to a specialist anew.
Kristopher Rikken