The organisations involved in the CUSS pilot project for universal healthcare coverage in Luxembourg have described the current operation of the project as "promising" but have identified some adjustments needed for improvement.
CUSS noted in a press release that Luxembourg's Ministers of Health and of Social Security (and their advisers) had recently received a delegation of organisations implementing CUSS (Couverture Universelle des Soins de Santé), namely the Comité National de Défense Sociale (CNDS), the Luxembourg Red Cross, Jugend an Drogenhëllef, Médecins du Monde, Ronnen Dësch and Stëmm vun der Strooss. This meeting provided an update on CUSS, which has been operating as a pilot project since April 2022.
The organisations described the current operation of the project as "promising", noting that it allows many people to "regain [their] health and dignity". In 2022, the files of 223 people were processed as part of the pilot project; 45% of people concerned by CUSS are between 31 and 45 years old, 79% of them are single or no longer have a partner and 35% have been living for more than five years in Luxembourg. The organisations added that ten people were able to regularise their administrative situation. CUSS was granted for 106 people.
However, due to a reported lack of resources, some organisations have had to suspend CUSS affiliations, thus creating "profound injustices" with regard to access to healthcare.
According to the organisations involved in the pilot project, the participants at this meeting agreed on the need for additional adjustments such as:
- giving a legal basis to CUSS;
- simplifying the procedures for accessing CUSS and administrative follow-up, mainly through the creation of a computerised platform;
- aiming to integrate CUSS beneficiaries into the existing third-party payer social system;
- setting up national communication with healthcare providers, as soon as possible;
- giving other organisations and hospital social services open access to CUSS;
- strengthening the resources given to organisations involved in CUSS;
- organising regular meetings to co-construct CUSS and improve its procedures.
In addition, operational direct payment could in the future constitute "a major step forward" in facilitating the administrative follow-up of invoices generated within the framework of CUSS.
The working group will start its work this month and these aspects will be addressed with a view to "finding concrete and rapid adjustments".
The organisations concluded that "the desire to achieve a legal framework, shared by all stakeholders and included in the national health plan recently adopted by the government, will be a driving force in ensuring that access to health becomes universal in Luxembourg."
CUSS is aimed at ensuring access to basic healthcare for particularly vulnerable people in the Grand Duchy.
