Health tourists UK: How much do they cost and who pays?

• ‘Deliberate’ use of the UK NHS—use by those who come the UK specifically to receive free treatment or who come for other reasons but take advantage of the system when they’re there—is hard to quantify. It’s thought to be very roughly between £110 million and £280 million a year.
• ‘Normal’ use of the NHS—by foreign visitors who’ve ended up being treated while in England—is estimated to cost about £1.8 billion a year.
• The majority of these costs aren’t currently charged for. Only about £500 million is thought to be recoverable or chargeable at the moment.
• Is this system available in Spain or is the UK in a different world to every other country?.

As I understand it in Spain you have to show BEFORE treatment of any kind that you can pay for it. Some of the ways of showing that they will be paid are:- proof that you are a resident and on the tax system by way of I.D. card etc. an EHIC or travel insurance if you are non resident. If you are a pensioner and have the necessary paperwork from Newcastle and have signed on the system. If you are under pensionable age and not working and paying the relevant tax then you have NO cover. However if you are resident and under age you can pay monthly about €60 per month to be on the system.  If you are resident you can take out private medical insurance.  If you can not PROVE that you are covered at the time of treatment including emergency/accident then you will not be treated, period.

So under the above it seems that the U.K. is in a world of its own!!!!

• ‘Deliberate’ use of the UK NHS—use by those who come the UK specifically to receive free treatment or who come for other reasons but take advantage of the system when they’re there—is hard to quantify. It’s thought to be very roughly between £110 million and £280 million a year.
• ‘Normal’ use of the NHS—by foreign visitors who’ve ended up being treated while in England—is estimated to cost about £1.8 billion a year.
• The majority of these costs aren’t currently charged for. Only about £500 million is thought to be recoverable or chargeable at the moment.
• Is this system available in Spain or is the UK in a different world to every other country?.

I don't think this system is available in Spain because it's been noted that Spain along with many other countries are one of those that send the UK an invoice for any medical care done for a UK national. 

It has also been noted that the UK cares not to send any invoices to other countries for medical work done to their nationals, reason being they say, it takes to much time and paperwork to send them out, I would think if they did send them out not many, if indeed any, would pay these invoices if they got them anyway.

I don't work in, or know anything about the UK NHS in this respect, just repeating what has been reported in the news over the years, so I could well be corrected....So who do you believe?

Your other question "Is the UK in a different world to other countries" is easily answered  (YES)  you only have to looki at what is happening in Calais at the moment, not forgetting the amount of other immigrants that "Must" get to the UK at any cost. 

It seems that we give more to others, much more, then we give to our own.

Slight misunderstanding of how the country paying for care actually works. UK does, indeed, invoice EU countries for treatment given to their nationals. In exactly the same way that EU countries bill the UK for treatment.

Non-EU citizens should be charged the full amount of their treatment, unless it is emergency treatment, either by insurance or money. If you are from Kenya and fall over and break your leg, for example, you will be treated free of charge in UK as that is the system in use there. I very much doubt if the same person in Spain would be left struggling as Spain also provides emergency treatment. Just a couple of years ago, medical staff in Spain went on protest marches when the government told them they couldn't treat illegal immigrants (mainly N Africans) and the Spanish government backed down on the provision of emergency treatment.

Where the system falls down (in UK) is the training given to reception staff at GP clinics. Hospitals now have finance departments to chase up bills (including the claiming from EU countries) but GP clinics just tend to ignore any claim and many don''t even know what an EHIC is. Here, in Spain, I have seen a receptionist at the A&E department telephone UK for a Brit who didn't have the EHIC card. UK faxed the entitlement over. A British receptionist would just shrug and allow the patient in.

I don't know about Spain (probably the same) but in UK being pregnant is classed as an emergency. Hence hospitals such as Hounslow and Slough having a huge number of women coming in to give birth, mainly from Africa after just getting off the plane at Heathrow. UK (and Spain) will not refuse to provide emergency treatment regardless of ability to pay. In the case of those giving birth, the airlines should be held accountable for allowing them to fly in their 3rd trimester (IMHO).

The other difference is access to the national health systems vary between the countries. UK has a residence based system and Spain a contribution based system. All you have to do in UK is show prove of residence (no official card, no official register there) by means of utility bill or whatever and you will be registered for free treatment on the NHS. In Spain, you have to show you have paid your equivalent of NI and social security to get access to the system. If you haven't, you have to have insurance, either provided by the state (as in the S1) or privately.

Both countries have a caring attitude to medical problems. It's just that UK gets taken for a mug and puts up with it.

If you can not PROVE that you are covered at the time of treatment including emergency/accident then you will not be treated, period.

So would you be happy for someone who has been seriously hurt in an acccident or a major stroke / heart attack to be left dying or in pain - how would you feel if it was one of your family / friends left to suffer / die

People do abuse the UK NHS but humanity should come first, it does need fixing but not in such a dramatic fashion that has been suggested

You will be treated in Spain for emergencies. The statement you will not be is absurd.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9456343/Spanish-doctors-and-nurses-protest-over-health-care-law-for-immigrants.html

mariedav Quote   You will be treated in Spain for emergencies.

That is my experience too in over 25 years living in Spain, during which time I have been taken by ambulance to hospital following a traffic accident, without any questions asked about if I had any sort of health cover, until after I had been treated.  

I have also taken my grandchildren, when they were here on holiday,  to emergency depts a few times, and also my adult son.  Again, no questions were asked until after they had been treated.

A couple of weeks ago I called an ambulance to a man who had collapsed in the street.  He said he was having a heart attack. He was Polish and appeared to be living on the street. Again the ambulance picked him up without any questions re paperwork.

PS   Just for info. 

The DWP pays around £3,000 per year for each of us registered with the Health Service, as a result of an S1, and their dependants, regardless of what treatment we may receive. 

For those treated on a EHC:  The UK is billed each time.  Unfortunately the Spanish system means UK send the payment to Madrid but they do not forward it to the Regional health authority where the treatment was carried out. Thus the tourist areas who treat a disproportionate number of visitors,  are ‘penalised’  by the system.   

For a while the Costa del Sol hospital tried to get those with travel insurance, to use that instead of the EHC, so that the hospital would get paid.