Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
May 13th 2010, 6:28 pm
#91
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Posts: 236
Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
The NHS doctor should have charged the patient if they are not a UK resident whether they've paid UK taxes in the past or are still doing so. Only UK residents are entitled to free NHS care at the point of service. AFAIK only emergency A&E hospital treatment is free for non UK residents. The doctor probably assumed that a person with a British accent is a UK resident.
BTW NI payments do not pay for the NHS...National Insurance pays for social services, unemployment, pension, child benefits etc. The NHS is paid for by income taxes.
BTW NI payments do not pay for the NHS...National Insurance pays for social services, unemployment, pension, child benefits etc. The NHS is paid for by income taxes.
In the case of a GP the rules are flexible and they can choose to register overseas visitors as temporary residents, or accept them onto their lists if the person is visiting the UK for more than 3 months.
In the case of hospital treatment, it is free for a condition that was not existing prior to entry into the UK for anyone, or the spouse or child of anyone, who has lived legally in the UK for 10 continuous years at some point but who is now living in another EEA member state or in certain countries with which the UK has a bilateral healthcare agreement.
Unfortunately in the case of hospitals, that's not the US, but the point was residency is not essential in either case.
Yes, you are completely right on the funding. I did actually mean taxes & NI but for some reason only typed NI. I think the rough cost is about £1800 per person if I remember correctly.
May 13th 2010, 6:33 pm
#92
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
Actually it's a bit more complex than that.
In the case of a GP the rules are flexible and they can choose to register overseas visitors as temporary residents, or accept them onto their lists if the person is visiting the UK for more than 3 months.
In the case of hospital treatment, it is free for a condition that was not existing prior to entry into the UK for anyone, or the spouse or child of anyone, who has lived legally in the UK for 10 continuous years at some point but who is now living in another EEA member state or in certain countries with which the UK has a bilateral healthcare agreement.
Unfortunately in the case of hospitals, that's not the US, but the point was residency is not essential in either case.
Yes, you are completely right on the funding. I did actually mean taxes & NI but for some reason only typed NI. I think the rough cost is about £1800 per person if I remember correctly.
In the case of a GP the rules are flexible and they can choose to register overseas visitors as temporary residents, or accept them onto their lists if the person is visiting the UK for more than 3 months.
In the case of hospital treatment, it is free for a condition that was not existing prior to entry into the UK for anyone, or the spouse or child of anyone, who has lived legally in the UK for 10 continuous years at some point but who is now living in another EEA member state or in certain countries with which the UK has a bilateral healthcare agreement.
Unfortunately in the case of hospitals, that's not the US, but the point was residency is not essential in either case.
Yes, you are completely right on the funding. I did actually mean taxes & NI but for some reason only typed NI. I think the rough cost is about £1800 per person if I remember correctly.
The US does not have a bilateral healthcare agreement with the UK...so that is irrelevant.
Last edited by Jerseygirl; May 13th 2010 at 6:41 pm.
May 13th 2010, 6:38 pm
#93
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Posts: 236
Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
Could you post a link to confirm the statement in your first paragraph please? From what I've read on the NHS website...only emergency treatment is free and to be registered with a doctor you must be a UK resident. Unofficially I have no doubt that doctor's can and do treat expats.
The US does not have a bilateral healthcare agreement with the UK...so that is irrelevant.
The US does not have a bilateral healthcare agreement with the UK...so that is irrelevant.
I did point out that the US didn't have an agreement, but my point was that it is not necessary to be a resident to get non emergency care in a hospital.
May 13th 2010, 6:41 pm
#94
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
From CAB
"Visitors are not usually entitled to get non-hospital treatment. For example, if you used to live in the UK and then went to live abroad, you wouldn't normally get free treatment if you came back for a visit. There are some exceptions to these rules, for example, if you need emergency treatment.
A GP may, in practice, be flexible in deciding whether you are resident in the UK, in order to qualify for free treatment. You will usually have to show that your stay in the UK has some degree of permanence and stability.
If you are a visitor in the UK for less than three months, a GP may accept you as a temporary resident. Otherwise, a GP may offer to accept you as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment."
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nm/ind...rom_abroad.htm
Look under the GPs and dentists section.
"Visitors are not usually entitled to get non-hospital treatment. For example, if you used to live in the UK and then went to live abroad, you wouldn't normally get free treatment if you came back for a visit. There are some exceptions to these rules, for example, if you need emergency treatment.
A GP may, in practice, be flexible in deciding whether you are resident in the UK, in order to qualify for free treatment. You will usually have to show that your stay in the UK has some degree of permanence and stability.
If you are a visitor in the UK for less than three months, a GP may accept you as a temporary resident. Otherwise, a GP may offer to accept you as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment."
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nm/ind...rom_abroad.htm
Look under the GPs and dentists section.
May 13th 2010, 6:45 pm
#95
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 88,022
Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
From CAB
"Visitors are not usually entitled to get non-hospital treatment. For example, if you used to live in the UK and then went to live abroad, you wouldn't normally get free treatment if you came back for a visit. There are some exceptions to these rules, for example, if you need emergency treatment.
A GP may, in practice, be flexible in deciding whether you are resident in the UK, in order to qualify for free treatment. You will usually have to show that your stay in the UK has some degree of permanence and stability.
If you are a visitor in the UK for less than three months, a GP may accept you as a temporary resident. Otherwise, a GP may offer to accept you as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment."
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nm/ind...rom_abroad.htm
Look under the GPs and dentists section.
"Visitors are not usually entitled to get non-hospital treatment. For example, if you used to live in the UK and then went to live abroad, you wouldn't normally get free treatment if you came back for a visit. There are some exceptions to these rules, for example, if you need emergency treatment.
A GP may, in practice, be flexible in deciding whether you are resident in the UK, in order to qualify for free treatment. You will usually have to show that your stay in the UK has some degree of permanence and stability.
If you are a visitor in the UK for less than three months, a GP may accept you as a temporary resident. Otherwise, a GP may offer to accept you as a private patient and you will have to pay for treatment."
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/nm/ind...rom_abroad.htm
Look under the GPs and dentists section.
May 13th 2010, 6:50 pm
#96
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 236
Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
I wouldn't be surprised if the official statement does not reflect what is actually allowed.
By not saying this the NHS might put off some non urgent GP visits by non residents.
Also perhaps once someone has seen the GP, it's a pain in the backside to chase up payment if they are not a UK resident?
May 13th 2010, 7:19 pm
#97
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
No problem whatsoever, makes me feel like I have almost been useful today!
I wouldn't be surprised if the official statement does not reflect what is actually allowed.
By not saying this the NHS might put off some non urgent GP visits by non residents.
Also perhaps once someone has seen the GP, it's a pain in the backside to chase up payment if they are not a UK resident?
I wouldn't be surprised if the official statement does not reflect what is actually allowed.
By not saying this the NHS might put off some non urgent GP visits by non residents.
Also perhaps once someone has seen the GP, it's a pain in the backside to chase up payment if they are not a UK resident?
A GP may, in practice, be flexible ...
As I mentioned, this is what I suspect happened in my case, especially as I actually offered to pay. I did fill in an NHS form giving my name and address etc. GPs don't have a legion of billing staff like doctor's over here, so they perhaps conclude that for a one-off visit it ain't worth the trouble.
Last edited by Giantaxe; May 13th 2010 at 7:23 pm.
May 13th 2010, 7:24 pm
#98
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
Exactly...it doesn't mean expats living in the US have a right to free healthcare and prescriptions. You may get away with it...then again you may not.
May 13th 2010, 8:36 pm
#99
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
I really wonder how they could track eligibility for prescriptions. Obviously, you have to have a prescription in the first place, which involves a doctor's visit. But once you have that prescription, there's nothing on it to denote eligibility for NHS-subsidized prescriptions. All I did was give the pharmacy the UK address where I was staying and pay the NHS charge. The actual cost of the prescription could potentially have been a lot more than what I was charged.
May 13th 2010, 8:58 pm
#100
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
I really wonder how they could track eligibility for prescriptions. Obviously, you have to have a prescription in the first place, which involves a doctor's visit. But once you have that prescription, there's nothing on it to denote eligibility for NHS-subsidized prescriptions. All I did was give the pharmacy the UK address where I was staying and pay the NHS charge. The actual cost of the prescription could potentially have been a lot more than what I was charged.
May 14th 2010, 3:29 am
#101
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
My doctor's billing service has certainly got more aggressive about chasing up copayments, even for trivial balances under $20. I now get automated messages (to a cell phone number I thought I was providing so my doctor could contact me about medical matters...) asking for payment. I even got a threat to take a $15 copayment to a debt-collector!
A similar thing happened to me recently, I got an appointment to see my Dr but was told I needed to bring the $30 I owed them or he wouldn't see me, Huhhh I went straight down to the office to sort this out and found out it was a computer error made at their billing office in Arizona, I did owe the money and gladly paid it like I pay all my debts.
A million people went medically bankrupt in America last year, its been happening for many years, people are going broke over medical costs and its people like me that are under inusured that are going bankrupt, its the high premiums and deductables that do this.
May 14th 2010, 3:49 am
#102
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
A million people went medically bankrupt in America last year, its been happening for many years, people are going broke over medical costs and its people like me that are under inusured that are going bankrupt, its the high premiums and deductables that do this.
May 14th 2010, 3:51 am
#103
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
In my opinion
May 14th 2010, 3:58 am
#104
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
A similar thing happened to me recently, I got an appointment to see my Dr but was told I needed to bring the $30 I owed them or he wouldn't see me, Huhhh I went straight down to the office to sort this out and found out it was a computer error made at their billing office in Arizona, I did owe the money and gladly paid it like I pay all my debts.
A million people went medically bankrupt in America last year, its been happening for many years, people are going broke over medical costs and its people like me that are under inusured that are going bankrupt, its the high premiums and deductables that do this.
A million people went medically bankrupt in America last year, its been happening for many years, people are going broke over medical costs and its people like me that are under inusured that are going bankrupt, its the high premiums and deductables that do this.
I spent 45 minutes disputing a medical bill this morning. After being harassed on the phone by a collection agency about a bill that I knew we didn't owe I finally found someone to verify the fact. We had been duplicate billed for $179 from June 2009. Having had so many bills in the last year I had kept all of them in order and had proof it had been paid. The collection agency were nasty, asked me why I was making excuses not to pay something I owed. I wasted time on this, I was spoken to disrespectfully and when it was proved that I was correct I didn't even get an apology.
Tonight the same collection agency called again......I give up
May 14th 2010, 4:05 am
#105
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Re: Medical Treatment U.S insurance, bills urgent!!
Healthcare for profit is immoral. Private health "insurance" is a large-scale criminal endeavor, part Ponzi scheme and part extortion racket that consistently exploits patients at their most vulnerable moments. It is the sort of predatory enterprise like payday lending and loan-sharking that should be criminalized.
The rich get Richer, Much Richer.
I dont know of a soul who ever went bankrupt over heathcare costs in the UK, it doesn't happen, non Ive spoken with would want our system, they laugh at our system.