Belgium Considers Health Function For National ID Card

2006-03-27 — Government leaders in Belgium are considering adding the nation’s health-card function to its chip-based national identification smart card, says Marc Caen, communications manager for the Belgian eID, or electronic ID card, program. Currently, Belgian citizens carry one smart card for the national ID and another for the health care system. Caen says both cards act as keys to a national registry of citizens that is used to verify the identity of the cardholder. Since each card accesses the same data, Caen says that government leaders are considering merging the cards. However, he cautions that the consolidation of the two card programs remains at a conceptual stage, in part because some issues remain to be ironed out. Caen cites as an example the issue of how to handle health cards for minors. Belgians are not required to obtain an eID until they turn 12 years of age, he says, and many parents hold their children’s health cards. Eliminating the health card would require finding a way to ensure that minors still have a way to access the health care system, he says.