2023-06-14 17:15:15
Approval for initiative to prepare for European Health Data Space
Vienna (PK) – The new parent-child passport, which is to replace the mother-child passport that has existed since 1974, has to go through another round in the parliamentary process. By means of a motion for remittance, which was accepted unanimously, the National Council the legislative initiative back to the health committee today. The reason is a technical error when introducing the government bill.
On the other hand, there was broad approval for a NEOS initiative for timely preparation for the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Another application by NEOS for more digitization in the healthcare system remained in the minority.
The parent-child passport will be discussed again in the committee
The initiative for a new Parent-Child Passport was unanimously sent back to the Health Committee, where it will now be discussed again. Ralph Schallmeiner (Greens) justified the coalition parties’ request for referral back with a technical error. Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek (SPÖ) explained that the draft submitted to Parliament was not the same as that discussed in the Council of Ministers.
The parent-child pass is to replace the mother-child pass from January 2024 and will be expanded and digitized by 2026. The benefits of the mother-child passport are to be expanded. However, the exact scope and type of medical examinations for the screening program still have to be determined by regulation. Two-thirds of the costs are to be covered by the Family Burdens Equalization Fund (FLAF) and one-third by the health insurance companies.
Health Minister Johannes Rauch described the mother-child passport introduced in 1974 as an important achievement that is now being digitised. In addition to digitization, a valorization of medical services and an expanded service program are also planned.
The mother-child pass is also a success story for Alexandra Tanda (ÖVP). But it is now time to bring it into the digital age and change the name. Tanda particularly emphasized the easier access for socially disadvantaged people and the multilingual offer. She also emphasized that data protection and security had been taken into account. Josef Hechenberger and Karl Schmidhofer (both ÖVP) emphasized the further development of the offers of the parent-child pass in a process up to 2026. Hechenberger also found it positive that the pass will in future be valid for children up to the age of 18 and not up to the age of 5 as was previously the case.
With the digital parent-child passport, this important pension instrument is being brought into the 21st century, said Barbara Neßler (Greens). The data protection of pregnant women has the highest priority and is guaranteed at all times, she emphasized. Ralph Schallmeiner (Greens) also assured that he would take data protection concerns and the criticism expressed during the assessment phase very seriously. That is why there was a wide-ranging amendment in committee. Neßler and Schallmeiner emphasized that the next step would be to expand the benefits of the parent-child pass.
Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek (SPÖ) found the referral of the bill positive. She still sees many inconsistencies in the parent-child passport, which could now be changed if the committee is dealt with again. Like her SPÖ colleague Mario Lindner, she criticized, among other things, that two parallel data streams are being set up with the electronic health record (ELGA) and the parent-child passport. Lindner also used his speech to send a message to the Third President of the National Council, Norbert Hofer, and the Freedom Party, who had criticized an event organized by Lindner with a drag queen in parliament in the media: “Drag is not a crime. Happy pride!” He said .
Peter Wurm (FPÖ) described the referral as “good news”. In his view, the parent-child passport is an “ideological project” by the Greens that should be rejected. In addition to the renaming, he particularly criticized the mandatory switch to the electronic passport.
From the NEOS, Katharina Werner rated the digital form, the accessibility and the multilingualism of the parent-child passport as positive. She criticized the fact that the passport was not offered in other minority languages in addition to sign language, and that the data was stored for 30 years without an opt-out option. Her parliamentary colleague Henrike Brandstötter complained that pregnancies were registered up to the third week after the calculated date of birth. Women who suffer a miscarriage or have an abortion would be unintentionally reminded of their calculated due date. Both Werner and Brandstötter called for these points of criticism to be taken into account as part of the further processing of the government bill in the committee.
Health data and digitization in the health system
The NEOS were able to win a large majority for one motion for a resolution by calling for timely preparation for the targets of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) proposed at EU level. They identify a need for reform in the domestic health data systems.
However, another was rejected NEOS initiative, with which they wanted to advance digitization in the healthcare system. They called for a comprehensive reform in this regard in order to eliminate the “patchwork of responsibilities”.
Fiona Fiedler (NEOS) stated that ELGA and better networking of the various systems are needed to prepare for the EHDS. It is important to remove parallel structures and better link existing registers. She understands all the less why her application for a reform of the ELGA is being rejected, says Fiedler.
The EHDS is a central project to advance digitization in the healthcare system, said Health Minister Rauch, who assured that the preliminary work at European and national level was underway. Gerald Hauser (FPÖ), in turn, sharply criticized the planned European area for health data. (Continued National Council) kar/wit
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