TheArmChairDetective

I think a lot of people are worried about health tourism and simply hinting at others without expanding is equally strange.

Pistolpete2

Heckles UP!

"New guidelines dictate that doctors must register any foreign patient"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...an-rights.html

Does this explain why the Access to NHS guidelines that were posted last week on here have now be consigned to the National Archives?

TheArmChairDetective

Quickest way of dealing with a problem, is to not make it a problem by legalising it :-)

Pistolpete2

I guess what it is saying is that permanent residents don't have to prove that they have been paying any sort of income taxes in order to qualify for the NHS primary care so why should those from overseas who do of course still pay consumption taxes such as APD and VAT.

In addition, we will now have a situation where overseas patients will be checked by a GP as opposed to an already overwhelmed A&E department and could now be referred through proper channels for hospital care for which they will still be billed.

Pit Bull.

<<snip>>

If you think it's ok, to let multi millions of pounds disappear instead of it being spent on extra nurses, or treatment for cancer patients then there's something wrong with your mind set.

nun

Health tourism isn't a good thing.....but it's not a big issue. It should be stopped, but there are more critical things ton address with the NHS. Why do we fixate on the issues of foreigners and the NHS rather than lack of funding and and staff.......I have an idea why, but I'll leave it up to those that have issues with foreigns using the NHS to explain their reasons...it can't be the scale of the problem. Let's discuss the 20 Billion pounds that is going to private contracts. That would seem to be a bigger change/issue than the 40 million over 4 years in unpaid bills by foreigners.

wonderwoman1st

With all the radical changes over the past 4 years, I wasn't sure if even that was still in place, but you would know, I left the UK in 2007 though was back for 8 months last year, things are changing all the time.

wonderwoman1st

I couldn't agree more on that last statement, though treatment in general not just the cancer patients. People die from other health issues too after all.

Fish n Chips 56

Thanks for the reply, it all makes sense now, the 12 month delay etc, still I'm surprised they let you get away without paying both times, hahahaa Id expect to be held hostage before they would let me go home and I'm not kidding, we don't get away with anything...

Two years ago I had a problem with my Doctor, he wouldnt see me because I owed him $30, We always pay our $30 Copay up front and we keep our reciepts, it turns out the $30 was a billing error between his office and the Insurance company, guess who paid the $30...

wonderwoman1st

Fricken daily mail, it's as bad as reading the sun newspaper.

Do people still read that comic? Far better is the guardian, the times, or the telegraph etc. If you want to believe anything you read, I'd say read a legible paper at least.

Fish n Chips 56

Thanks Nun... Finally someone that see's it like me...

Boy you have good coverage, I wish I had what you have, I'm Insurance poor, the cost of all Insurance is killing me...

50% of bankruptcies are medical, CORRECT, A Million people in all recent years have gone medically bankrupt, its just the luck of the draw, many of these bankrupt people do have medical Insurance, they just happen to get very sick or a family member does, some that are insured lose their jobs and then their medical coverage too, some go on to lose their homes, that would never happen in the UK...

Buying Medical Insurance here isn't anything like buying other types of insurance, First you've got to qualify, they don't want you if you are likely to claim, they like to cherry pick, if you have any pre-existing conditions they will do one of three things, #1 refuse coverage, #2 up the cost of your plan, or #3 be exempt from paying for the anything relating to that condition... Every plan is different...

Medical Insurance for many of us only covers a portion of the cost, Nun is truly one of the Lucky ones, I dont know anyone personally that has 100% coverage...

Even though I pay a monthly premium I have to pay thousands before the Insurance will kick in a penny for treatment, (This resets at Zero every 12 months), I also pay 30% of whatever my the total bill is, so on a $100.000 claim I would have to find or finance $30.000, some hospitals are now inviting loan companies to have office space in their facilities, this way you can get a loan for your illness, the hospital stays out of the picture and doesn't have to fight for its money... They want out of the payment business, they want to get paid now and I cant blame them for that...

Many people forget there are limits to what the Insurance companies will pay, Once you've reached that limit you are out of luck...

I pay $800 a month for 70% coverage, I used to have 80% coverage but cant afford those premiums today, of course the money I pay also helps pay for those that don't have Insurance or can't pay, Hospitals say they pay, but who do they really get their money from?, that would be either Me the Insured, or Me the tax payer... I over pay to subsidize those that dont pay...

I just wish we had a better system were everyone paid their fair share, A tax like in the UK seems like one of the fairest systems to me, I know some people wont agree...

A 5 minute Doctors appointment costs $100, I pay $30 for that, the insurance pays the other $70...

Once you hit 65 the Govt covers you for 80% of medical costs under the Medicare system, this is something we the workers contribute to, its up to you to then find insurance that will cover the other 20% or pay it out of your own pocket, this is what Nun was speaking about, she will pay more once she retires, of course you still have to pay for Prescriptions, Medicine is not Free for pensioners like in the UK... Being sick in America means you are going to pay...

I get a discount on prescriptions and always get the generic brand if one is available, I once paid over $300 for a prescription, that was my discount cost...


If the UK had a system like we have here in the USA they would have plenty to moan and complain about, Fraud, Its America, we have all kinds of fraud here...

First off we have between 13 and 20 Million Illegal's at last count...

There are some Doctors that play the system and over bill the insurance companies, as the end user we pay for that.

Some of the Hospitals over charge the Govt, one in Florida finished up being sued by the Govt for overcharging, they paid more than $600 million in fines and interest, all in all it cost them over $2 Billion to settle, the man in charge admitted to nothing, and these are only the ones we know about...

We also have companies in some states set up purely to bill our Govt for medicare/medicaid patients that never receive any care or service from them, its Pure Fraud, these companies come and go quickly so they cant be caught...

Why do we have a system like this, corrupt politicians bought off by medical companies and Insurance companies, they are on a good thing and don't want this gravy train to end...

chris955

Fish and Chips, very well said indeed. If treating some 'medical tourists' makes us in the UK a caring society (which it is) then Im very happy to pay the price. I have been largely staying out of this nonsense because my father in law was diagnosed with cancer while visiting us in Australia around 7 or 8 years ago, he received all the necessary treatment completely free. I suppose some might say the huge amount of money should have been spent on a proper Aussie rather than a tourist.

Pit Bull.

<<snip>>

Unfortunately that is the upshot of such waste, there's a lack of nurses and the best cancer treatment is turned down because the NHS can't afford to fund it.

Pit Bull.

I don't think anyone is fixating over foreigners getting treatment they don't deserve, it is the loss of such huge amounts if money that is the issue, just because the multi millions of pounds of loss is only a drop in the ocean of the huge NHS budget doesn't mean it is something that people shouldn't be concerned about. I agree with the rest of your post, plus another point, my wife's hospital is massively in debt losing £100,000 a day, it isn't the only one, a few years ago it owed £65 million pounds and the government wrote that debt off then, the main debt is owed to private companies, they are closing the A&E department and shutting a couple of wards, which my wife says is crazy because they are jam packed full with patients all the time.

dunroving

Personally, I don't see the NHS tourism issue being primarily about money or foreigners (not all NHS tourists are foreigners, remember, some are BE people living overseas who may even be on the forum - and of course most "foreigners" using the NHS are not tourists).

For me, it's more about the moral question of taking something you are not entitled to. I just feel very strongly about cheating, always have. I would get worked up more if someone stole £10 from me than if I lost £100.

I can see the rationale for not obsessing about it from an economic standpoint, because there are far bigger economic problems that deserve more attention (but that's not to say it's economically unimportant, just less important than other economic issues within the NHS and elsewhere).

It's a problem we need to fix, but not fixate on.