The Council of State has expressed concerns that the two Grand Ducal regulations intended to replace the convention between the National Health Fund (CNS) and the Luxembourg Association of Doctors and Dentists (AMMD) risk violating the legality principle on several counts. Significantly, these concerns do not pertain to the issues that were publicly debated in advance of the drafts.
For instance, the Council did not comment on the question of first class (private room) supplements, even though Minister of Health Martine Deprez stated in an August interview with Tageblatt that her legal team had found no statutory basis for such charges.
Instead, the Council of State highlighted other aspects in the draft regulations that, in its view, require a clear legal basis. These include the validity period of medical prescriptions, limits on the number of sick notes doctors can issue, and the ban on charging fees before medical services have been provided. According to the Council, these issues should be anchored directly in the Social Security Code, meaning legislative amendments would be necessary before they could be enforced through regulation.
The Greens have requested that the Chamber of Deputies' Health Committee discuss the draft regulations at its next meeting and clarify the steps required regarding the future convention between the CNS and the AMMD.
