UK Ends Free NHS Care For Foreign Students & Immigrants

End of free NHS care for migrants under
new bill
Major restrictions on migrants’ free access
to the NHS are to be introduced.
Figures published by the Office for National
Statistics showed that 37,000 extra
Romanian and Bulgarian workers have
arrived since June last year.
There is uncertainty over how much is
spent by the NHS on foreigners who are
not entitled to free treatment.
Foreigners will have to prove that they
are entitled to be in the country before
they are given access to GPs and
hospitals, while foreign students will
have to make a “contribution” to the
health service.
The measure will form the centrepiece
of tough new legislation designed to
reduce numbers entering the country
and put pressure on illegal immigrants
to leave.
A senior government source said it was an
attempt to target “people who have no right
to be here”.
Restricting access to the NHS is highly
contentious politically.
GPs will be told they have to check that
people seeking to register with them are
here legally and issue only time-limited
“NHS numbers” — the proof of entitlement
to free care — to those who do not have a
permanent right to be in the country.
Separately, students from outside Europe
will have to pay a £200 levy before they
can access the NHS.
Hospitals will be told to step up attempts
to pursue “health tourists” for the cost
of treatments they receive.
The measures will be outlined in the
Immigration Bill, which is due to be put
before Parliament within days.
It represents one of the most wide-ranging
and ambitious pieces of legislation since
the Coalition took office, spanning six
Whitehall departments: health, local
government, business, and transport, as
well as the Home Office and the Ministry of
Justice.
However, it will not affect migrants from
inside the European Union, which is now
the biggest single source of new arrivals.
Other elements of the Bill include:
• A ban on councils giving social housing
to individuals with no connection to an
area, with “penalties” if the rules are
not followed;
• Fines of up to £3,000 if landlords do not
conduct thorough background checks on
their tenants to ensure they have a legal
right to live in Britain, and fines of up to
£20,000 for every illegal worker
employed by unscrupulous businesses;
• A victory for The Sunday Telegraph’s
campaign to end the farce that sees
foreign criminals dodging deportation by
appealing using the Human Rights Act.
Instead the law will allow immediate
deportation and appeals from outside the
country unless criminals can show they
face “serious and irreversible harm” in their
home countries.
The plans are intended to address what
ministers see as public concern over the
impact of the migration policies of the last
Labour government.
The Bill is the Coalition’s flagship legislation
for the year and Conservatives hope that
the package of measures will allow them to
win back voters who have been tempted to
support the UK Independence Party.
“If you are not entitled to our free National
Health Service you’ll have to pay for it,” a
source said.
“If you are an illegal immigrant you won’t
be able to rent a council flat and you won’t
be able to rent a private sector flat.”
Many of the restrictions on free health
treatment are likely to be opposed by some
doctors, who have previously resisted
attempts to make them “gatekeepers” to the
NHS.
At present anyone registering for the first
time at a GP is given an NHS number,
which allows them to receive free
treatment.
Under the reforms, they will have to prove
they are entitled to be here to gain the
number. By having no NHS number, they
will be unable to receive anything except
emergency treatment.
Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said:
“We need to ensure that those residing or
visiting the UK are contributing to the
system, and that we do as much as
possible to target illegal migration.
"We have a National Health Service not an
international health service and I am
determined to wipe out abuse in the
system.”
The foreign students levy will end the
current situation which allows free access
to the NHS for all students here for more
than six months.
Currently 300,000 students from outside
Europe [/b]are studying at British
universities.
Official projections have suggested that
this number will rise to more than
480,000 by 2025.
Although [b]charging these students
would raise less than £100 million ,
ministers believe it would be a significant
disincentive to those who would abuse the
NHS.
Analysis of Home Office figures suggests
that one in five foreign students will
remain living in the UK five years after first
arriving, and many will settle permanently.
Efforts to step up the pursuit of health
tourists will also be included.
There is uncertainty over how much is
spent by the NHS on foreigners who are
not entitled to free treatment, with current
estimates ranging from £3million to
£300million, and fears the figure may be
even higher... .
A separate tightening of the rules on
unemployment benefits is likely to follow,
which will not require an Act of Parliament
to introduce.
Certain unemployment benefits for
European nationals will be stopped after
six months, under the plan to amend the
Immigration Regulations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/
immigration/10358569/End-of-free-NHS-

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