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NHS 'can save £500m' on foreign care | NHS 'can save £500m' on foreign care |
(about 9 hours later) | |
Up to £500m could be recovered from overseas visitors' and migrants' use of the NHS every year, ministers believe. | Up to £500m could be recovered from overseas visitors' and migrants' use of the NHS every year, ministers believe. |
The figure represents a quarter of the costs of treating such patients, Department of Health data suggested. | |
But ministers said it was a realistic target as some of the spending was unavoidable. | But ministers said it was a realistic target as some of the spending was unavoidable. |
The savings would come from a levy on foreigners, deterring health tourism and getting the NHS to claw back money it is owed by other countries. | The savings would come from a levy on foreigners, deterring health tourism and getting the NHS to claw back money it is owed by other countries. |
The government is currently consulting on the measures it will be taking to tackle this issue. | The government is currently consulting on the measures it will be taking to tackle this issue. |
It has already said a £200-a-year levy on migrants from outside Europe staying for up to five years will be imposed. | It has already said a £200-a-year levy on migrants from outside Europe staying for up to five years will be imposed. |
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said this could raise £200m a year. | |
A cost-recovery unit will also be set up to help hospitals claw back money they are owed by other governments for treating foreign nationals visiting the UK. | A cost-recovery unit will also be set up to help hospitals claw back money they are owed by other governments for treating foreign nationals visiting the UK. |
At the moment just £73m a year is recouped out of more than £460m owed. | |
Meanwhile, health tourism - whereby people deliberately travel to the UK to get NHS care - is estimated to cost between £70m and £300m. | Meanwhile, health tourism - whereby people deliberately travel to the UK to get NHS care - is estimated to cost between £70m and £300m. |
'Conservative' | 'Conservative' |
The government accepts it cannot recoup all of this money and entirely stop health tourism and so it has put forward the "conservative" £500m figure. | The government accepts it cannot recoup all of this money and entirely stop health tourism and so it has put forward the "conservative" £500m figure. |
To achieve this, it said a better system of identifying when visitors and migrants got treatment was needed. | |
More details on what this will involve will be revealed in the coming weeks. | More details on what this will involve will be revealed in the coming weeks. |
But Mr Hunt said the figures - compiled with the help of independent researchers - showed the extent of the problem. | |
"We have one of the most generous systems in the world when it comes to healthcare for foreign visitors, but it's time for action to ensure the NHS is a national health service - not an international one," he added. | "We have one of the most generous systems in the world when it comes to healthcare for foreign visitors, but it's time for action to ensure the NHS is a national health service - not an international one," he added. |
Overall, the research estimated about £2bn was spent on treating visitors and migrants, but as some of this involved emergency care and llxaggerated' | |
Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "We are not against improving the recovery of costs from people with no entitlement to NHS treatment." | Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "We are not against improving the recovery of costs from people with no entitlement to NHS treatment." |
But he added the figures were based on a "large number of assumptions" and was more about "spin than substance". | But he added the figures were based on a "large number of assumptions" and was more about "spin than substance". |
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs committee, said the government's £500m savings figure was "exaggerated", partly because it did not take account of the costs of implementing its plans. | |
He said migrants paying the proposed £200-a-year levy could be more likely to use the NHS to "get their money's worth", and he said the cost of a single hospital outpatient appointment would be more than £200. | |
Dr Nagpaul said doctors should not be distracted from their work in order to check the eligibility of patients for treatments. | |
Mr Hunt said he did not want to "turn GPs into border guards" and no one would be denied emergency treatment, but foreign visitors must make a "fair contribution". |