You may have been following the news that the NHS are cracking down on health tourism, as part of these reforms they are planning to allow expats with more than 7 National Insurance Contributions to become eligible for NHS treatment, which sounds to be good news, however in the article copied from yellali.com (I couldn't link to it directly) it looks like these changes may invalidate your membership to the SGK scheme in Turkey.
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Following our blog post from June 30th outlining proposed NHS reforms for expats, recent developments have warranted a follow up!
This comes direct from the British Consulate in Turkey who has just released a document containing a set of revised NHS strategies. The main objective for this is to reduce NHS expenditure and ceasing the resource drain on foreign medical tourism.
So what changes have been proposed? The latest NHS initiatives suggest that non EEA citizens who are temporary may be subject to a health tax when entering the country.
Under these guidelines, it means that expats will not have to pay to access any NHS related services as necessary when returning home.
Other proposals suggest recovering costs from “temporary immigrants” as it may be a prerequisite to hold some form of comprehensive health insurance.
This would allow expats to pay for any costly treatment provided by the NHS. According to the latest NHS document, they are swaying towards imposing a possible immigrant health tax
However, there may be special dispensation for those possessing special visa groups, whilst those possessing private insurance may simply have the ability to relinquish their rights to complimentary NHS healthcare. This means certain individuals many not have to pay any levies.
But if they do need urgent medical care in the UK there will be a full amount to pay. It is believed that the Home Office intends to provide counsel on this future migrant healthcare charge.
In spite of the crackdowns by the British government to curb the abuse of health related services, expatriates do enjoy certain benefits.
Yet this scheme has significantly changed with proposals confirming that expats qualify for free healthcare if they have made seven years of National Insurance contributions.
In addition, the changes set in motion by the NHS means for those expats in Turkey may find difficulties to obtain the SGK health insurance.
This is because to qualify for SGK insurance it clearly states you should not be permitted to any extra governmental health initiatives belonging to any other country.
Expats who possess or would like SGK health insurance in Turkey may find out that NHS entitlement could affect their SGK.
At present, the terms of SGK clearly state that to qualify for this healthcare scheme; you must not be eligible for any government related healthcare schemes in any other country.
As soon as free NHS care has been introduced, those who have this insurance will have to declare this to the relevant SGK offices. This is to discover whether their policies have been affected.
Having access to free healthcare is welcome respite for many expats covering both those returning to the UK permanently as well as visiting.
Meanwhile, other good news includes individuals who are still officially listed with a doctor can potentially qualify to medication via prescriptions.
The NHS facts are figures are worth a mention as the current 2012/13 budget stands at around £109bn with foreign visitors responsible for just 0.1% of the total health service outlay.
So it’s good news all round for expats who can certainly reap the benefits when it comes to seeking out healthcare solutions in Britain.
Now that’s a healthy conclusion.