The new smartcards will initially contain information such as the bearer's PPS (Personal Public Services) number and will certify that they are eligible to receive medical treatment as an EU citizen. The European Health Insurance cards will developed centrally, but were announced by Health Minister Micheal Martin on Wednesday as part of Ireland's presidency of the EU. The cards will be available to all EU residents from June onwards.
"Initially it will replace the E111 form, but it will ultimately carry more information than that," a spokesperson for the Department of Health told ElectricNews.Net. "Ultimately you should be able to visit another country and they'll have access to your medical records."
In the long term the cards will also contain the information included on the E112 and E128 cards, which may allow Irish citizens to seek health board funded medical treatment abroad.
The announcement comes approximately one month after the programme to modernise the Irish Civil Registration Service won a couple of awards at the Wall Street Journal European Innovation Awards 2003. The initiative was a co-winner in the Business Applications of IT Services sub-category and also took home a bronze award in the overall Business Innovation category. The awards honour individuals and organisations that develop new ideas or technologies that improve quality of life or enhance productivity.
The civil registration modernisation programme, jointly run by the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of Health and Children, aims to transform the current paper-based civil registration system, enabling citizens' life events -- such as births, deaths and marriages -- to be recorded on a national life event database. One key aspect of the initiative that has been piloted is a "live registration system," which means that when a child is born, a birth certificate and PPS number are automatically generated. The system also facilitates the automation of child benefit payments.
Quelle: Electric News, 08.01.2004
