Health Tourism?

[mushroom25]

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/8880071/international-health-service/

The voice of someone with genuine concern for the health service in this country?

or a rant from another immigrant-bashing xenophobe?

[Old_Geezer]

Well em, foreign visitors are only entitled to emergency treatment, or treatment of some communicable diseases (since that is in our interest) and compulsory treatment. Which I guess is fair enough since none should be health tourism issues. But EU rules say we must have a reciprocal arrangement for EU citizens, which as far as I can make out means not treating them as they would be treated in their own country and charging them as they would be in their own country, but instead treating them as if we were all one big country and making no distinction between visitors and resident citizens. So yes it will have been agreed to.

Seems to me that apart from A&E most treatment is a referral from a GP anyway, so UK citizens should be easliy distinguishable from health tourists.

[Old_Geezer]

I am beginning to hate this lack of an edit facility !!!!

"...and compulsory psychiatric treatment" as I typed.

[Old_Geezer]

I think the thing is that one ought not assume it all evens out, any charge not covered by the visitor should be paid by their government, who would need to agree in advance for the treatment to go ahead.

[emmie]

my understanding is that once you obtain an NI number you can access any number of facilities. Also that if a woman arrives in Britain about to give birth, goes into hospital, they aren't going to turn her away, however those services should be chargeable. I don't see why you can just go someplace and get free treatment, it wouldn't happen in the USA, you have to have adequate medical insurance. This time the whistle-blower was a doctor, so surely he would have some clue as to what goes on.

[emmie]

i expect like excess parking fines that foreign drivers get, don't get paid either, nor by their governments. I remember reading that one borough possibly Kensington and Chelsea is owed a fortune in parking fines from the uber wealthy foreigners who ignore the no parking or yellow lines and park their vehicles wherever.

[pdq1]

I wonder what would happen if a health tourist turned up at a private hospital?

[emmie]

they would be asked to pay, same as it would for anyone.

[whiskeryron]

All tourists visiting the UK should take out travel & medical insurance as we have to if visiting the USA.

http://voices.yahoo.com/should-british-citizens-take-out-medical-travel-insurance-7830356.html

WR.

[whiskeryron]

//
em10
i expect like excess parking fines that foreign drivers get, don't get paid either, nor by their governments. I remember reading that one borough possibly Kensington and Chelsea is owed a fortune in parking fines from the uber wealthy foreigners who ignore the no parking or yellow lines and park their vehicles wherever.//

ANY vehicle illegally parked should be clamped & not released until fine is paid. simples.

WR.

[Sqad]

WR...

\\\\All tourists visiting the UK should take out travel & medical insurance as we have to if visiting the USA. \\\

Yes, I agree they "SHOULD" but how can you enforce that when they know that should they need medical care it is, at the moment, free of charge?
One could hardly ask them for their medical insurance at Passport control and turn them back if they were not medically covered.

[emmie]

why not. If i landed in the USA without adequate cash i would be detained or more likely be shoved on the next plane home. I had to wait to clear their immigration for almost two hours once, bags checked, passports thoroughly checked, and asked how much money i had on me, no kidding.

[emmie]

WR, it wasn't unknown for them to dump the car, when you have squillions in the bank, what's a few hundred thousand between parking meters.

[Sqad]

em

\\\\why not. If i landed in the USA without adequate cash i would be detained or more likely be shoved on the next plane home\\\\

If the UK copied ANY of the American trends, there would be a state of "status apoplexus" on AB which would be irreversible.

[237SJ]

Adequate cash and travel insurance are two different things em. US immigration (or anywhere else I have ever been) doesn`t ask if you have travel insurance.

[emmie]

sqad, what makes you think it doesn't already exist. x lol

[Sqad]

em.....;-)

[emmie]

237, perhaps not, but you sure as hell can't walk in with no money. their rules i suspect are somewhat stricter than ours. I was asked how much money in travellers cheques and where i was going to stay, all noted. My friend was apoplectic by the time i got through.

[237SJ]

They only want to know if you have money so that you can fund your trip and you won`t work illegally. That`s got nothing to do with travel insurance. Incidentally, they have a real problem in California at the moment with pregnant Chinese women coming there, then giving birth. I don`t know who pays for the medical care but there are offices in Bejing and other places that set it all up for them. They sort out the air ticket, visa, give suggestions on hospitals and (the main issue) give advice on how to get US citizenship for the baby.

[emmie]

that's true, but i was only there for a holiday, of course i could have skipped, but that's pointless as you can't, or couldn't work without a green card.
I guess there are these scams wherever you go.

[emmie]

useful info for anyone going, i however did have travel insurance at the time, and was advised by the agent to definitely make sure was covered.

http://www.confused.com/travel-insurance/usa