Access to Cross-Border Healthcare for Older Persons in the European Union: The Interplay between EU Law and Swedish Law

This thesis deals with older persons on the move and their access to cross-border healthcare in the European Union. The number of persons crossing borders within the EU has increased exponentially in recent decades. Free movement has been at the core of the European integration project from its early days. Although it was originally intended to apply only to those who were economically active, the introduction of European Union citizenship changed this, making possible multiple forms of mobility. A clear example of this is retirement migration, rates of which have increased in recent years.

This thesis analyses access to cross-border healthcare for older persons in the context of EU as a social market economy.To this end, the thesis analyzes access to cross-border healthcare in three types of case: older persons moving permanently to another Member State, older persons seeking healthcare in another Member State and older persons staying temporarily in another Member State. Sweden is the case study to illustrate the interplay between EU law and national law.

The thesis provides a comprehensive discussion and analysis of the phenomenon of cross-border healthcare and highlights key challenges older persons face in accessing cross-border healthcare in the EU. The analysis reveals a complex picture, reflecting the interplay between the EU level and the national level, the tensions between economic and social integration and the role of different human rights discourses.