MPs on Thursday demanded that the state pay up front for travel and accommodation expenses incurred by families where a person receives medical treatment abroad.

The matter of overseas patient referrals was discussed at the House health committee.

Patients are referred abroad when the required treatment is not available at Cyprus state hospitals.

Under current practice, the family or escort of a patient sent abroad will file a reimbursement claim after the treatment is completed.

But because of delays in actual reimbursement, MPs propose that the amount – or a significant portion of it – be paid in advance, as many families simply cannot afford to pay out of pocket while staying overseas.

Lawmakers also discussed other aspects pertaining to overseas patient referrals – such as the Health Insurance Organisation’s (HIO) refusal in some cases to rubberstamp ongoing or repeat treatment.

The issue is that the HIO implemented different protocols since taking charge of overseas patient referrals from the health ministry in October 2025.

A patient who earlier had got the green light from the health ministry, but who now requires ongoing or repeat treatment abroad, therefore has to resubmit an application.

This has led to delays, and in some cases to denials of such applications, MPs said.

The HIO said it’s aware of the issue and doing its utmost to prevent inconvenience.

Another matter is that, whereas on paper a patient has the option of choosing the medical centre overseas, in practice this is not always the case.

MPs also heard that, since October last year, the HIO has denied 28 per cent of applications for overseas referrals.

Monica Kyriacou, a senior official with the HIO, said that during this timeframe 657 patients traveled abroad or are still receiving treatment overseas.

The organisation received 1,234 applications, approving 889.

Cases are categorised according to severity: life-threatening, urgent, and ‘normal’.

For life-threatening cases requiring dispatch overseas, the protocols require an immediate decision, with the patient sent abroad within 48 hours.

Patients classed as urgent incidents must be sent to a medical centre abroad within seven days. For ‘normal’ or non-urgent cases, it is within 30 days.

Kyriacou said the time elapsed from approval until actual dispatch is on average one day for life-threatening cases, four days for urgent cases, and 22 days for non-urgent.

For her part, Disy MP Savia Orfanidou also brought up the issue of the state having its own airborne means of transport for such airlifts.

“This is a matter of life and death,” she noted.

The discussion in parliament will continue at a later date, with the relevant government departments providing written answers to questions posed by MPs.