The Standing Committee on Health and Care Services is examining two private member's bills aimed at improving how patient transport is organized. The proposers argue that the current scheme has significant shortcomings: reimbursement rates for overnight stays are too low, patients face unnecessarily long journeys, and bureaucratic barriers prevent people from accessing needed care. The committee is advancing several concrete reforms.
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These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
The Storting calls on the government to review the reimbursement rate for overnight stays during patient transport to ensure it reflects the actual costs patients face, and to report back in due course.
The Storting calls on the government to establish clearer standards for how long a patient transport journey should be, so that patients with long distances can avoid unnecessary travel time, by the end of 2027.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that patient transport is prioritized when air travel is used as a means of reaching health services.
The Storting calls on the government to base transport decisions on the patient's total journey time, so the most practical mode of transport is chosen rather than the cheapest option for the health authority, preventing unnecessary travel for patients with long distances. The government is also asked to develop clearer standards for how long a patient transport journey should be and to report back to the Storting in due course.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure more integrated management of patient transport, with the aim of aligning administrative and practical oversight, and to report back in due course.
The Storting calls on the government to evaluate the patient transport scheme, involving patients, relatives, health personnel, and transport providers in the evaluation, and to report back to the Storting in due course with proposals for improvements that prevent patients and relatives from facing unnecessarily long, burdensome, and costly journeys.
The Storting calls on the government to amend the patient transport regulations so that health authorities without contracts for patient transport must offer an arrangement allowing patients to use a taxi without paying more than their standard out-of-pocket cost for transport.
The Storting calls on the government to require health authorities to conduct genuine cost analyses for patient transport in rural areas and to ensure that local transport providers can participate in the patient transport scheme on economically sustainable terms.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that tender specifications for patient transport weigh quality, patient perspective, and preparedness higher than lowest price, and that minimum standards are set for waiting times and travel times.
The Storting calls on the government to ensure that North Norway Health Authority establishes a new arrangement for patients requiring air transport so that total travel time is minimized.
The Storting calls on the government to evaluate the pilot programme for increased overnight stay reimbursement and to report back to the Storting soon with an assessment of expanding it nationwide.
The Storting calls on the government to establish a full patient transport scheme for the Glåmdalen region without delay.
The Storting calls on the government to consider a travel guarantee with reimbursement for alternative transport costs as part of Patient Transport's service charter.
The Storting calls on the government to work toward coordinating publicly funded demand-responsive transport in collaboration with county governments, public transport providers, and municipalities.