Tania Mathias – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2015-11-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether British expatriates who pay income tax in the UK will be charged for medical treatment in the UK.

Alistair Burt

Since the United Kingdom has a residence based healthcare system, a person who is not ordinarily resident in the UK, including a British national expatriate, is chargeable for any National Health Service hospital services they receive during visits to the UK, unless an exemption category applies, as set out in Regulations. Therefore, entitlement to free NHS care is not linked to the payment of UK taxes.

Being ordinarily resident in the UK means, in relation to British citizens, living here on a lawful, properly settled basis for the time being. A person can be ordinarily resident in more than one country at a time, depending on their individual circumstances.