Health Secretary shelves plans to charge foreigners fleecing NHS… and blames Brexit for making clawing back cash too complicated
Health Secretary packed in his 2020 deadline to recover £500million-a-year for the NHS
JEREMY Hunt has shelved plans to introduce charges for “health tourists” fleecing the NHS - blaming Brexit for the move.
Only months after vowing to clamp down on the abuse, the Health Secretary told MPs the complexities of quitting the EU meant a 2020 deadline would be impossible.
David Cameron had promised new laws in the Queen’s Speech last May to force non-EU migrants and overseas visitors who get free treatment to pay up.
But Mr Hunt told MPs in the Commons yesterday the NHS (Overseas Visitors Charging) Bill had been put on ice while ministers worked out how they’ll navigate Brexit.
Last year he said he would set out plans to make sure the NHS was recovering £500million a year by the middle of this parliament.
But quizzed yesterday over whether a bill would be brought in, he revealed: “We didn’t actually proceed with the legislation because of Brexit.”
The cost of foreign visitors using the NHS in England is estimated at £1.8billion a year.
The bill for “health tourists” who fly in specifically to use the NHS for free is put at up to £280m a year.
Previous bids to claw back cash were limited to secondary care like non urgent ops.
But the new bill was seeking to make new arrivals pay for tests and scans, prescriptions, NHS dental services and eye care as well as emergency treatment.
Mr Hunt insisted he was determined to strengthen measures to ensure the NHS was not abused, saying he’d tripled the amount recovered in the last three years.
During the session with MPs from the Commons Health Select Committee Mr Hunt also insisted care homes and agencies should not worry about being able to hire overseas workers following Brexit.
He said: “We don’t envisage there will be cliff edges in immigration policy going forward.
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“We need to recognise that any possibility of reducing the need for people trained overseas to come and work in the NHS and social care systems will be a gradual process.
“So we are not planning any changes that would mean that care homes and domiciliary care agencies aren’t able to recruit the staff they need.”
But he did warn Britain faced losing the headquarters of European Medicines Agency (EMA) - the EU body responsible for evaluating medical products - after Brexit.
Despite the Government wanting to maintain the “closest possible relationship” with the EMA, he said it was “unlikely” the EU would want to retain its London HQ.
He added: “It is likely in a post Brexit scenario that the EU will decide to move the headquarters of the EMA outside the UK.”
Last night Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said the loss of the EMA HQ would be a “real blow” for the UK with the loss of 900 high quality jobs.
He warned: “Withdrawing from the EMA altogether could cause significant problems for the pharmaceutical industry and our NHS.
“Drugs companies would find themselves tangled up in red tape, making treatments more expensive for our NHS and for patients. It could also delay access to new drugs in the UK.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said ministers had not ruled out changes to legislation in the future.
She said: “We have already trebled the amount recovered from overseas visitors in three years to £289million.
“While we have not taken forward a Bill in this session, its main purpose would have been to redefine ‘ordinary residence’ for EU citizens, which in the wake of the Brexit vote is no longer required.”