https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/90492 ... th-tourism

the more the health tourists scam the less resources we have to treat UK patients in the National Health Service ...

How is this an EU problem? The NHS is knowingly issuing fraudulent cards and now there are complaints that the fraudulent cards are being used.

I thought this was non-UK EU citizens coming to the UK for treatment, although I don't know why they would.

It isn't as if the EU is billing the NHS for work that hasn't been done or for fake cards, these are genuine cards issued by the NHS. Any waste of NHS funds lands squarely at the doors of the NHS!

So the NHS issue cards they know are for fraud, then moan when they're used? Blame the UK Government for that.

I'd be more worried about the UK coffin dodgers living in Europe. They cost a lot more than that every year & will cost even more after Brexit Source

i never stated it was an EU problem just a scam using EU cards which takes funds from the NHS.
getting very defensive are we not ...

You realise these are not EU cards don't you?
They're NHS issued (which at the last check was very much British, well the bits that the Tories haven't tried selling to their mates are).

did you at the very least read the article before placing comment ...

The NHS budget is ~£126bn. In that context, the "health tourism" is ~ 0.01% of the budget. Round where I work, the biggest issue are patients (ex-pats) who come to the UK, get three months' worth of meds and then bugger off back to Spain. I can't prove they're doing this as I'm supposed to be the patient's advocate. They claim to live in the UK but I can never seem to get them in for check ups as they're constantly "on holiday".

The other point to raise is this: someone can come to the UK, state that they intend to live here for more than six months and they're eligible to register with a GP. Don't see the Govt trying to do anything about this.

there is plenty to be done to stop funds that should be used for the NHS being abused and used by those who have no entitlement or have lost their entitlement to free NHS treatment. but you have to start somewhere and then expand on that to ensure funds for the NHS go to the NHS for the use of genuine NHS patients.

its a NATIONAL Health Service for those that pay into it, not a worldwide health service to be used and abused ...

I wonder if, once we've left the EU, the government will insist on people needing proof of medical insurance when they enter the country.
I can't imaging going abroad without insurance, even if I was covered by the local services for some things.

If you are coming in from the EU, we should be asking for that anyway. Other countries in the EU require it, especially if you are going to stay for any significant length of time. For some reason, our sucessive governments have been fairly laissaiz faire about the whole thing.

Does that mean that people on benefits (who've never worked) or those that have never worked (house husbands, house wives) don't get treatment either?
That'd save a fortune

Current requirements to use the NHS are proof of entitlement, if they're not checking then it will be abused.
If they're not checking it then the government needs to change.

any one on benefits have NI credited to them and have done for many years.

thats why i have changed my mind on ID cards, no UK ID card no treatment.
i also believe that medical insurance be compulsory for anybody coming to the UK that would stop a lot of health tourism.

You can't refuse treatment, it goes against the hipocratic oath. But you can either give them a bill if they aren't entitled to NHS treatment or you get their national health insurance card and bill against that - when we (in Germany) go abroad, our insurance covers us in foreign parts, the treatment is billed back to the insurance company*.

* We don't have National Health Insurance, like the UK, but it is mandatory to have health insurance and you can choose one of a dozen or so insurance companies and you and your employer pay the contributions, just like in the UK. If you are out of work, the Agentur für Arbeit (equivalent of DHSS and Job Centre) takes over the employer's contributions.

If you are self-employed, you have to take out private health insurance (you pay the full contribution).

So, for the most part, the system works like the NHS, but is run privately (a couple of year ago, it was run so well, that there was a large surplus, each member got a dividend back, I think I got around 400€ from my insurer and my wife 350€ from hers). When you turn up at a surgery or a hospital etc. you have to first show your insurance card. If you are a foreign national, you will be treated, but you will get an invoice for the treatment, which you have to settle and reclaim from your insurance, unless your country has an agreement with Germany, in which case, your insurance will be billed directly (I think most EU countries are in this scheme).

You can if it's not medically indicated eg patient demands knee replacement for knee pain that they've had for a week.

Okay, cosmetic surgery and non-emergency aside. If I am abroad, I'll only be going to a doctor or hospital in a real emergency.

If somebody turned up from another country and wanted a hip replacement, even if chronic, whilst "on holiday", I wouldn't class that as emergency treatment. If they had fallen over and broken a hip, that is a different matter.