Reference for a preliminary ruling from the Curtea de Apel Bacău (Romania) lodged on 21 September 2012 - Elena Luca v Casa de Asigurări de Sănătate Bacău
(Case C-430/12)
Language of the case: Romanian
Referring court
Curtea de Apel Bacău
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: Elena Luca
Defendant: Casa de Asigurări de Sănătate Bacău
Questions referred
Do Article 56 [TFEU] (formerly Article 49 of the EC Treaty) and Article 22 of Regulation No 1408/71 preclude national legislation, such as Articles 40(1)(b), 45 and 46 of Decree 592/2008, under which an employed or self-employed person, or a member of that person's family, is not entitled to full reimbursement of expenses incurred in respect of medical treatment abroad unless he has obtained prior authorisation for those purposes?
Does partial payment for medical treatment carried out within the Community, calculated in accordance with the rates of the insuring Member State - in the present case, in accordance with Article 7a of Decree 122/2007 (now repealed by Decree 729/2009) - constitute a restriction for the purposes of Article 56 [TFEU] (formerly Article 49 of the EC Treaty)?
If Question 2 is answered in the affirmative, what is the threshold for the reimbursement of expenses incurred by insured persons, in the event of a discrepancy in amount between the payments provided for under the legislation of the Member State of residence and the cost of the services provided for under the legislation of the Member State in which the treatment was carried out?
____________1 - Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 of the Council of 14 June 1971 on the application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community (English Special Edition, Series I, 1971(II), pp. 416 to 463).