brit_abroad45

Hi
I am new here and was wondering whether there has been any update on the article below:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/ex...-restored.html

extract:
Britions who live overseas for more than three months of the year currently lose their right to free health care at home, unless they have a medical emergency during a visit.

However, the government recently carried out a huge consultation into the NHS, suggesting that access to free treatment should be given to those who have made a fair contribution.

A fair contribution would constitute at least seven years of National Insurance contributions, under the proposals

Many Thanks

Jerseygirl

Hello and welcome to BE.

I am moving your thread over to our Moving Back to The UK Forum...as i think it will get more response.

Pistolpete2

What you say here was the basis for Health Coverage with the NHS or Dept of Health a couple of years ago, with particular emphasis on hospital treatment, but I'm not so sure that is still the case today, if only because the pre-requisite for obtaining FULL NHS coverage is Ordinary Residence.

You only have to be routinely resident in the UK for 90 days on a settled basis to be resident for tax purposes and if you can show that there is a well-defined pattern of this residence, this can be demonstrated to be ORDINARY. That being the case, I don't think that the three months now applies and is more likely over six months at the very least. If you are a nomadic expat (I'm not trying to be smart as I think I want to become nomadic soon) and can show you still spend more time in the UK than anywhere else then so much the better.

I believe the 'jury is still out' on the discussion ref the NICs conts. The newspapers watch this stuff like hawks and nothing has jumped out so far.

Editha

There was a public consultation on the issue last year which was published in December:https://www.gov.uk/government/consul...use-of-the-nhs

I'm fairly certain that there have been no changes to legislation yet. It is important to remember that a consultation is just that, and not necessarily a guide to what is going to happen.

Editha

Pete the document you've linked to does not relate to migrant NHS care. It is a different consultation on a different matter entirely: On whether or not to allow two Commissioning Groups to form a joint committee (what a riveting subject!).

Pistolpete2

Oh I'm sorry! I'll scrub it.