Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

I wasn't referring to you. Just passing comment about some people.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

I think you mean Medicare. As long as you have paid into the system for at least 10 years you qualify for it at age 65, but you still have to be resident in the USA.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

So after I move back I'm not entitled to secondary care until six months have elapsed? I am a UK citizen and in receipt on my state pension.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

If you move back with the intention to remain (and immediately become tax resident) then you are fully covered on day 1.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Visitors are only entitled to primary care free of charge; residents are entitled to full NHS care free of charge from the first day that they become resident. If you move back to the UK with the intention of remaining there then you will be covered from day one.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

I thank you and durham_lad for the clarification. I could have sworn that I read on a UK government site in the last couple of years that persons collecting the UK state pension were covered by the NHS when in the UK regardless of residency. Haven't been able to find the page again so I assume the government put a stop to that.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Medicare only pays for medical services within the USA. But I don't think it's true you need to be a resident to qualify for Medicare - is it? Reading about Mexico as a popular choice for living in retirement, articles often state that one attraction is that folks can easily return to the US for their checkups and scheduled medical procedures etc. Obviously they'd have to make provision for emergency and unexpected medical events in Mexico.

In my case, I was planning to go on paying my Medicare Part B even if I became fully resident in the UK - in order to cover myself on trips to US or the eventuality of changing my mind & moving back.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

There are plenty of people like myself and my wife who only worked a few years in the UK, and then paid 20+ years of voluntary NI contributions (very small amounts compared to NI from our salaries) while living and working abroad for decades to get a UK State Pension but had never paid much in UK income taxes over the years. If we were still living in the USA we would be receiving the UK state pension and still not be paying any HMRC taxes so I would not expect any entitlement to the NHS.

Now that we are back our foreign pensions, including the US State pensions, are taxed by HMRC so we are paying into the NHS which is a pay as you go system. (No Medicare arrangement which is funded during your working years with a dedicated tax that entitles you to government subsidized healthcare at age 65)

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Medicare is different in that although it is subsidized by the government you have to have lived and worked in the USA paying into it for at least 10 years and then continue to pay the insurance premiums once you are 65 or older. You receive a Medicare card that entitles you to receive treatment in the USA only and I don’t know if they will send that card to an overseas address, but once you have it and are keeping up with the Monthly premiums I don’t believe you have to be a permanent resident, although by definition if you are a US citizen you are always resident for tax purposes and have to file a tax return.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Yes, you can enroll in Medicare while living overseas.


https://www.medicare.gov/eligibilitypremiumcalc/

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

That may well be something to do with the EU.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

I think you are referring to this:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-on-overseas-visitors-hospital-charging-regulations/summary-of-changes-made-to-the-way-the-nhs-charges-overseas-visitors-for-nhs-hospital-care

There is a paragraph within that which states that pensioners living in the EEA are entitled to use the NHS.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Auvi-Q pens are free. You go online, register, they call you and ask a few questions, then send them through the post. We have 3 pairs for my daughter who has a nut allergy (and yes, we've tested the Auvi-Q pen on her and it worked).

There is also a generic version of the Epipen available.

Absolutely no need to pay $600 for an Epipen any more.

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

Wow that is great, thanks so much for the info!

Re: Leaving UK and NHS
 

It's been a relief to us too. There was a time when all of my daughter's Epipens were out of date because at $600+ a pair it was just too much to replace them.