S G K Health Insurance FIASCO - Urgent

[vinvola]

The NHS is available to you if you live in the UK.  This is very true. Especially if you claim benefits or are not working.
Expats choose to live abroad and if they had done their research then they would have known the situation and taken it into account before leaving the country. Not one expat was marched to a port or airport and forced on a ship or plane.They left of their own free will.
These people who left of their own free will and knew the consequences but still went ahead and done it, left because they wanted a better quality of life. The fact that they still are able to draw their pensions but are not able to get any medical care is frustrating for them. The British government says "Yes they are able to have their pensions because they paid into it all their working life," but are reneging on the funds for medical services.
Personally I see no difference between the two. The fact remains that we all paid national insurance for the period of our working life. That money has now been claimed by the British government with apparently no come back. What if we were to open a court case to reclaim the money we paid during those years?
In reality what is required here is for a certain amount of discount that could be subsidised by the British government from the funds that have been paid by the ex-pats who live here.
Yes I agree that the foreigners here are contributing to the local economy but please do not forget how much they contributed to the UK economy during their working lives.
As far as those who have claimed double tax relief, my opinion is that they are in the minority of the population of the ex-pat community in the area. My feelings go out to those who have retired legitimately and now have been left in the lurch by the state system.
The reality of the situation is that ex-pats, who live either in Turkey or in any other part of the world, should be entitled to some sort of subsidy towards their medical care.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

It is totally unfair to pick out people who are unemployed or claiming benefits. The vast majority of these people would prefer to be in work.

The government is not reneging on medical services as they are available if you live in the UK. No one has been left in the lurch by the state system.You choose to live in Turkey and as you stated you knew the consequences.When deciding on whether it is a better quality of life or not you should have taken the potential impact of healthcare into consideration and whether you could afford it.

If you were to open a court case you would be told as I have stated you knew what the rules were and the government has not changed its stance.You are getting it back you are getting a pension for life and you can have free healthcare under the NHS as long as you live in the UK.When people who are now expats were living in the UK they were contributing to the growth of the UK economy and were getting whatever benefits arose. Now you move to Turkey contribute to the Turkish economy and expect those in the UK to subsidise it.

The French who have a system similar to the Uk does not provide subsidised healthcare for french people living abroad.

[kizkucuk]

As far as I know if a Turkish citizen applies for a settlement visa in the UK and is granted one they are entitled to NHS care - if a British person applies for a residency permit in the Turkey they are not entitled to free health care - yes I chose to live here and yes I was aware if the rules but if the UK gives legally residing Turkish citizens health care surely Turkey should reciprocate.

[Rindaloo]

It isn't free though, we are paying Bag Kur.  Also, they seem to be planning to stop Bag Kur without notice.  Surely this is not legal, surely we entered a contract with them when we took out Bag Kur??  Oop. there I go, logic again....

[Ian]

It is easy to see this from both sides - Ovacikpeedoff makes his points very well - almost every UK government document where you are tapping into the services or funding asks: "are you residing in the UK?" - so it should not come as a surprise.

Although as Rindaloo states - you are "paying / willing to contribute towards the cost" so to me it looks like a bureaucratic mess and if you can lobby BOTH governments and get representatives to sit down together I suspect there is a way through this as ex-pats are willing to contribute and the UK government saves the cost of people flying home to their "registered address???" to have surgery.

Go on lobby for your lives - literally!!!  

Ps I still have a strong view that in the UK we should be able to see what every household has paid in / and taken from (NHS/Benefits) the system and the balance should determine how far you are allowed to go and those with highly negative balances should have individual assessments before further payments are sanctioned.

Life is pareto and 20% spoil it by taking far too much - as always!!

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Kizkucuk,Rindaloo and Ian, I have not got a problem with what you are saying and agree with you. All I was trying to point out is that there should be an agreement with Turkey that expats who are registered as residents get the same terms and conditions as the locals do and the excess cost is carried by the Turkish government.Turkey does not operate an automatic free health service and it is means tested.  I totally support a petition that asks the UK government to intervene to ensure that this is the case.

What does wind me up is that some people expect the UK government to pay towards healthcare when living abroad. They make it sound as if the government has taken something off them and it has not.I am not 100% sure I think expats who are OAPs qualify for the basic winter fuel allowance. I do not see many of those who want the government to pay for healthcare returning the winter fuel allowance when they are sitting in the sunshine and the OAPs in the UK are dying of exposure.If it is not automatic there are some expats getting it under the registered address in the UK.

As you say Ian, it only takes a few bad apples to spoil it for the majority.

[Rindaloo]

To be honest, I haven't given much thought to whether the UK should be contributing towards our healthcare here.  My issue is with the fact that Turkey (three years ago) offered us healthcare, named a price, we complied with the requirements and now they seem to be moving the goalposts AND taking it from us with no official notice.

Now, if the UK added some money to supplement our contribution to Bag Kur, that would be great.  But as I say, I haven't put much thought into it, as there are many different ways of seeing the 'right' in that one.

[shutterbug]

I was one of the first to find out about the end of the SGK scheme for foreigners. I ran the Consul in Antalaya, and also the Embassy in Ankara. Last week I got a call from the Consul in Izmir telling me they are in discussion with Aknara, but that it might be helpful if we launched a write-in campaign as there are so many of us here.
I spoke to Jane at LoL about this and she suggested that we have a meeting, giving about 3 weeks time to get the word around, to organise this. I was expecting a call from the person who deals with this Forum but have heard nothing. Will try calling the paper later today. I have had a shop in H tell me that although they are closing shortly, they would put a flyer in the window for us. Another idea to spread the word.
A German neighbour who looks after his 85 yr old mother had his cancelled. Hers has always been on a shared basis with German insurance. Pensioners there pay a small premium, and when they have treatment here, they don't pay, but the Turkish gov't bills the German gov't or their ins for a portion and they pay the rest. They told her son that there were forms he could fill from Germany and get the same arrangement. Maybe it is the UK gov't we need to target? Cheers. One more time! this is the most complicated site I have ever visited!

[vinvola]

There is a new idea. Lets get together or something to that effect. Instead of everyone picking holes in each others comments why doesn't everyone do what we have been trying to for the last 2 months.
It doesn't matter who heard first or who knows best, the end goal should be the same for all ex-pats living here. Everybody needs to have some form of medical insurance, whether it be from the Turkish or British governments.

[Rindaloo]

Well said Vinvola!!  I believe there is more to know on this, this is the information I am getting.  Maybe once we hear something official, we can sort something out.