Northern Ireland waiting lists: Cross-border operations money-back scheme starts
People who have been on an NHS waiting list for more than two years will now be able to pay for procedures in the Republic of Ireland and claim money back.The £10m cross-border plan, designed to tackle waiting lists, came into effect on Monday morning.The Department of Health (DoH) said that, in future, patients would be able to claim back money for operations in the rest of the EU.But a date has yet to be set for when that extension will happen, and the number of patients able to avail of it will depend on how much money is left from the cross-border scheme.
"The second phase of the scheme – extension to the rest of the EU – will go ahead," a DoH spokesperson said."The scale of available funding will clearly be connected to take-up levels for the first phase."
Budget
The department is already facing a £600m deficit in its budget as it struggles to reduce waiting lists and fund pay increases for healthcare workers.The reimbursement scheme was one of several initiatives Health Minister Mike Nesbitt announced to tackle waiting lists for planned operations, which are the highest in the UK.The cross-border element of the scheme means patients will get back the amount of money the operation would have cost in Northern Ireland, subject to approval.When it was launched last month, the department said full details of the plan were yet to be outlined and the full range of eligible procedures covered by the cross-border scheme was not known.
Online information hub
Those eligible for the scheme will be able to access a Health and Social Care online information hub giving guidance to patients on how to apply, eligibility criteria and access to the application form.The reimbursement scheme was included in a plan outlining how £215m was to be used to tackle Northern Ireland's spiralling hospital waiting lists.Of that, there will be £85m for red flag and critical care, £80m for building up capacity within the system, and up to £50m to start tackling the backlog in care.The plan is to clear the four year waits for more than 3,000 patients on lists for hip, knee, hernia and colonoscopy procedures.There will be mega clinics for an estimated 20,000 patients waiting for ophthalmology, orthopaedics, general surgery and ear, nose and throat (ENT) operations.Waiting lists for gynae mesh, children's squints, children's feeding tubes and cleft lip will also be tackled.The department said there will also be a boost in the number of urology specialist nurses and an expansion of rapid diagnosis centres for quicker detection of pancreatic cancer.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
US judge rules health insurers, MultiPlan must face price-fixing lawsuits
June 3 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday said healthcare providers can pursue claims that technology provider MultiPlan and a group of insurers conspired to underpay them billions of dollars in reimbursements for out-of-network health services. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago ruled, opens new tab that doctors and other providers who filed the proposed class action had plausibly alleged a price-fixing conspiracy that relied on insurers collectively sharing sensitive information with MultiPlan to set reimbursement rates. MultiPlan, which rebranded as Claritev in February, processes payments for out-of-network healthcare services. Major insurers, including defendants UnitedHealth, Aetna and Cigna, have contracts with the company and use its software. In a statement on Tuesday, MultiPlan said it was 'confident in the strength of our legal position' and that the lawsuits have no merit. Aetna parent CVS in a statement said, 'we stand ready to argue the substantive facts of the case and defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.' UnitedHealth and Cigna did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All of the defendants have denied any wrongdoing. Kennelly is presiding over consolidated, opens new tab lawsuits that were first filed in 2023. MultiPlan processes more than 80% of out-of-network claims across the country, or abut 370,000 daily claims, according to the plaintiffs. In a statement, attorneys for the health providers said MultiPlan and the insurance defendants 'orchestrated a cartel through the sharing of competitively sensitive confidential pricing information to illicitly coordinate on out-of-network reimbursements.' MultiPlan and the insurers have argued that health providers are free to reject an insurance company's payment and instead seek full compensation from patients. MultiPlan told the court its services provide industry more flexibility, lowering costs to insurers and patients. Kennelly in his ruling said "whether or not MultiPlan's calculated rates are labeled as 'recommendations,' the plaintiffs plausibly allege that they are more akin to mandates." The U.S. Justice Department submitted a court filing in March backing claims in the health providers' case. The case is In re MultiPlan Health Insurance Provider Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:24-cv-06795. Read more: US Justice Department backs medical providers' lawsuit over data analytics software Hospital sues data analytics company MultiPlan in US court antitrust case
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Quinn 'loved every minute' of international career
Retiring defender Louise Quinn said she gave "every bit" of herself to the Republic of Ireland squad after making her final international appearance in the Women's Nations League win over hosts in Cork needed to win by four goals to secure top spot and automatic promotion to League A but Saoirse Noonan's early goal was the only one of the result means that Slovenia move up to the top tier as group winners and Carla Ward's team will instead face a third-place side from the top tier in their play-off."First of all, we had to win the game, and we wanted to try win it by four," Quinn told RTE Sport."It's about building and going forward, and we did that after leaving ourselves with a tough task after the first game against Slovenia."That first-half performance was excellent, and I think with the way it is going, it is going to be really good for us."Before the final two Nations League fixtures of this campaign, Quinn announced she would retire this summer and received a warm send-off from the crowd in Cork as well as from her 34-year-old, who has spent the last four years with Birmingham City, made 122 appearances for the Republic of Ireland including playing every minute of her side's games in their first ever World Cup appearance in 2023. "I said to the girls that this is the best shirt you are going to wear in your lifetime and your career, and it is the proudest thing that you can do," the centre-back added."I felt like I honoured that a lot and I have loved every minute."I gave every bit of myself to this team throughout the years as I just wanted it so bad for those girls, and it's been the proudest time of my life."Quinn's decision follows on from Diane Caldwell, Niamh Fahey and Julie-Ann Russell all confirming their own retirements over recent of Ireland will now play a friendly double-header against the USA later this month before their Nations League play-off in October.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Trump administration scraps Biden-era policy on emergency abortions
June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday rescinded guidance issued during his Democratic predecessor Joe Biden's tenure requiring hospitals to provide abortions to women in medical emergencies regardless of various state bans on the procedure. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the 2022 guidance, which interpreted a federal law that ensures patients can receive emergency "stabilizing care" as preempting state abortion bans, did not reflect the policy of the Trump administration. The agency, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said it "will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration's actions." The Biden administration issued the guidance in July 2022 weeks after the 6-3 conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized a nationwide right of women to obtain abortions. The 2022 guidance reminded healthcare providers across the country of their obligations under a 1986 federal law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) to ensure Medicare-participating hospitals offer emergency care stabilizing patients regardless of their ability to pay. Medicare is the government healthcare program for the elderly. Hospitals that violate EMTALA risk losing Medicare funding. The 2022 guidance aimed to make clear that under EMTALA, physicians must provide a woman an abortion if needed to resolve a medical emergency and stabilize the patient even in states where the procedure is banned and that the federal law preempted any state laws that offer no exceptions for medical emergencies. After issuing the guidance, the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of Idaho in a bid to stop it from enforcing its near-total abortion ban in medical emergencies. A federal judge at the Justice Department's urging blocked the Idaho from enforcing the ban during medical emergencies, but the Trump administration in March dropped that lawsuit, resulting in that injunction being lifted. The ban still remains blocked in emergencies due to a similar lawsuit brought by a hospital system.
