UK to lose £200million as Government fails to reach its crackdown target from foreign fraudsters
Watchdog slams Government's £500million target as unidentifiable users continue to leave gaping in finances
A GOVERNMENT crackdown on reclaiming fees from foreign NHS patients will miss its target by almost half, a damning report reveals.
Ministers vowed to recover £500million from people who are not entitled to free care by 2017/18 amid concerns the service was “overly generous” to overseas visitors.
But a parliamentary watchdog said the Department of Health is likely to claw back just £295.5million – 41 per cent short of its target.
The Department estimates foreign visitors cost the health service £2billion a year but many of those who abuse the system are never identified.
The Sun revealed earlier this month how one hospital was used by around 900 pregnant health tourists last year, costing the taxpayer £4.6million in unpaid medical bills.
Shockingly, eight of the 50 trusts that cooperated with the National Audit Office review did not reclaim a penny from patients from outside the European Economic Area in 2015/16.
The poor enforcement means the NHS recovered just £56million from EEA visitors and £69million from visitors from outside of the EEA last year.
Officials found 42 per cent of doctors and 55 per cent of nurses were unaware some patients had to pay for treatment of the NHS.
The report says there is no reliable way of knowing exactly how much is owed and no simple way of identifying ineligible patients.
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There is thought to be additional administrative costs for identifying, billing and chasing the debts of health tourists.
The report says: ";Failing to recover these costs reduces the amount of money that the NHS has available for other people who need it.”
In 2014/15, the UK claimed £49.7million from other EEA countries but these claimed £674.4million from the UK.
Even if the “underperforming” trusts improved their billing rates and were brought up to the current average, it would only raise an additional £19.9million, the report concludes.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “We have a national, not an international health service and for too long it’s been far too easy for visitors to use NHS services without contributing to the cost.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said:“We will set out further steps in due course to ensure we deliver on our objective to recover £500 million a year by the middle of this Parliament.”