Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-02-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the cost to the public purse of EU health tourism has been in each of the last three years.

Alistair Burt

Since its inception in 2013, the Department’s Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme has been working to design and implement key improvements to ensure that those people who should pay for National Health Service care are identified and charged.

Achievements include:

– The launch of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) reporting incentive on 1 October 2014. All EHIC activity correctly reported by NHS secondary providers, so that the UK is able to make appropriate reimbursement claims from other member states, allows them to access an additional 25% funding;

– The revision of the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations which came into force on 6 April 2015, reducing the number of exemption from charge categories and realigning the Regulations to the principle that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system; and

– Support and engagement with NHS providers through meetings with senior trust employees and the launch of a cost recovery support team to provide bespoke assistance to trusts to improve their processes for identifying chargeable patients and recovering funds owed, including those from Europe.

The Department is currently consulting on the extension of charging overseas visitors and migrants using the NHS in England. Part of the consultation proposes to amend the residence definition for EEA nationals, by which they qualify for free NHS treatment in England. The consultation is due to conclude on 7 March 2016.

The Department does not hold information on the cost to the public purse of EU health tourism.