''Geraets-Smits v Stichting Ziekenfonds'' and ''Peerbooms v Stichting CZ Groep Zorgverzekeringen'' (2001
C-157/99is an
EU law
European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its val ...
case, concerning the
free movement of services in the European Union.
Facts
Mrs Geraets-Smits claimed the refusal of reimbursement for treatment for
Parkinson’s
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms become ...
disease in
Kassel, which she believed was better than that available in the Netherlands by focusing on individual symptoms, was contrary to
TFEU
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...
article 56. Mr Peerbooms received
neurostimulation
Neurostimulation is the purposeful modulation of the nervous system's activity using invasive (e.g. microelectrodes) or non-invasive means (e.g. transcranial magnetic stimulation or transcranial electric stimulation, tES, such as tDCS or trans ...
treatment in
Innsbruck, which likewise would not have been covered in the Netherlands. Experts testified in both cases that it was unjustified or experimental. Dutch social insurance covered medical costs of low income people, but only if it was approved. Funding came from individual premiums, from the state, and some from other private insurance funds. Geraets-Smits and Peerbooms had paid up front in Germany and Austria. Dutch law said authorisation had required that (1) treatment had to be regarded as ‘normal in the professional circles concerned’, and (2) ‘necessary’ so that adequate care could not be provided without undue delay by a care provider in the home state. The prior authorisation requirement was challenged as being contrary to
TFEU
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on European Union (TEU). It was previously known as the Treaty Establishi ...
article 56. Governments submitted that hospital services were not an economic activity if it was provided free of charge under a sickness insurance scheme.
Judgment
The
Court of Justice held that member states could organise their social security systems, if it was compatible with EU law rules. Article 57 did not require services to be paid for by those who received it, for it to fall within article 56 - and thus a restriction required justification. However the restrictions in these cases could be justified in the interests of maintaining social security’s financial balance, or essential health reasons under TFEU article 52.
See also
*
European Union law
Notes
{{reflist, 2
References
*
European Union services case law
Parkinson's disease
Neurostimulation
2001 in case law
Healthcare in the Netherlands