NHS to charge non EU immigrants 150% of treatment costs- should be EU as well

http://news.sky.com/story/1300815/nhs-to-charge-non-eu-migrants-150-percent-for-care

I will believe this when I see it but government announce plans to charge non EU immigrants 150% of the cost for their NHS treatment, as we are in the EU we cannot charge the millions of EU immigrants in the UK but should we?

Reply 1

miscounted_time

Original post by Ace123

There wasn't a great deal of detail in this article but;
1. How will they enforce this? Unless the patient pays upfront or has proof of insurance before treatment I don't see how payment can be guaranteed.
2. Non-EU immigrants (if legally here) have to meet certain criteria. They are often fluent in English, well educated and highly skilled. They are likely therefore to find gainful employment and contribute a substantial amount in taxes to fund the NHS. I see no reason to effectively tax these people twice. The EU is a different story however with low-skilled immigration they are likely to cost more than they contribute even if employed.
It would make more sense to charge those from the EU than non-EU but of course we cant do that. Seems like another meaningless Tory play to win votes.

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(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 2

perfectsymbology

No, because Europe is white peoples land so European peoples should get preferential treatment.

Reply 3

james22

Original post by perfectsymbology

No, because Europe is white peoples land so European peoples should get preferential treatment.

Historically yes, but it isn't now. Plenty of non-white people identify as European and are no different to everyone else (other than skin colour).

Reply 4

perfectsymbology

Thankyou for that James22.

Reply 5

DarkWhite

I personally believe all countries should implement free healthcare; that'd make this policy redundant.

It's not another way of demonising migrants. Health tourism clearly doesn't cost as much as paying profit-making corporations to deliver healthcare services that we can do in-house to world-class standards at a lower cost.

Reply 6

perfectsymbology

A true egalitarian would actually argue that everyone should pay 150% of the healthcare.

Reply 7

Asklepios

Original post by Ace123

I think that charging migrants just goes against the principles of the NHS - free healthcare provision to everyone. If someone from abroad becomes a permanent resident in the UK, I see no reason why the shouldn't be able to access healthcare services the same way as British citizens.

In addition to being unfair, it is completely impractical - as others have said there would need to be some sort of upfront payment. But what if it is an emergency?

This is just an example of the ****ing Tories destroying our healthcare system

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Reply 8

ChaoticButterfly

The problem is it isn't economically possible to be the world's hospital.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 9

miscounted_time

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

The problem is it isn't economically possible to be the world's hospital.

Quite right, although I'm surprised you haven't been crucified by now for saying it.

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Reply 10

Asklepios

Original post by ChaoticButterfly

The problem is it isn't economically possible to be the world's hospital.

We are not the world's hospital though. We are the hospital of people living in the UK, whether they be 'natives' or migrants. Would you then also say it isn't economically possible to let migrants access the police force?

Short-term tourists might be considered a problem though because they don't pay taxes. How about including an 'insurance tax' in visas to the UK?

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Reply 11

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Asklepios

Well migrants living here should have access to it.

My point was mainly aimed at short term tourists as you call them.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 12

mojojojo101

Firstly it would be illegal to treat EU citizens differently to UK citizens so unless you want to pay 150% of medical costs also proposing that EU migrants should is just a big fat display of your ignorance.

Secondly, as I understand it migrants have to pay for certain treatments anyway unless they have a particular type of insurance or something and even then the cost can be retrieved form that nations government if needed. The difficulty lies in how NHS funding is handed out to individual trusts which heavily incentivises not declaring people as ineligible for free care.

Reply 13

A Mysterious Lord

Ever heard of the EHIC? All EU citizens get free healthcare in all EU countries, it's paid for by their home country.

Reply 14

Ace123

Original post by A Mysterious Lord

Ever heard of the EHIC? All EU citizens get free healthcare in all EU countries, it's paid for by their home country.

that is wrong it is not free- under the EHIC you get treatment on the same basis as locals so all EU immigrants get NHS for free because Brits get it for free, Brits abroad get it on the same basis as locals in other countries & the majority do not have a free NHS like we do

Reply 15

jelly1000

To those saying charging migrants goes against the NHS principle- how do you propose we pay for their treatment then. The 150% figure is to get NHS trusts to chase up more patients for payment. I think its perfectly reasonable, when I go abroad I pay for travel insurance to cover this sort of thing.