Access to efficient health services for tourists - an evaluation of the economic benefits

Abstract

In 2003, a large German public health insurance fund launched the GesundheitsCard Europa (GCE) or Health Card Europe. Staff in the 14 participating hospitals along the Dutch and Belgium coast could use a multilingual Website to confirm immediately the insurance status of patients presenting a GCE. Reimbursement was speeded up by using the Web portal in co-operation with the insurance partners. A thorough analysis of the economic performance of the GCE service, accounting for all stakeholders was conducted. The number of paper forms issued by the insurer for travel to The Netherlands fell from about 200,000 annually to about 40,000 per year. In 2004, three years after the project started, cumulative benefits exceeded cumulative costs. The investment was about €500,000 and the annual running costs were about €150,000. In comparison, the overall annual net benefits were about €450,000. The GCE is a proprietary, but generalisable solution to a specific European problem: low acceptance of health insurance certificates.