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<p>National Health Service hospitals have a legal duty to make representations and
recover funds from those overseas visitors who are not exempt from charge for their
hospital treatment; this should be from the patient directly or via their insurance
company.</p><br /><p>The Department’s Visitor and Migrant National Health Service
Cost Recovery Programme aims to ensure that the NHS receives a fair contribution for
the cost of healthcare it provides to non-United Kingdom residents and improve the
amount of costs recovered from them or their home countries, to ensure the NHS is
sustainable.</p><br /><p>Since the launch of its implementation plan in July 2014
the Cost Recovery Programme has achieved much progress including:</p><br /><p>- the
launch of the European Health Insurance Card reporting incentive scheme in October
2014 to improve the reporting of EHIC details of visitors and students from the European
Economic Area (EEA) who access NHS care, for which the UK is entitled to reimbursement;</p><br
/><p>- updated Charging Regulations from April 2015, reducing the number of exemption
from charge categories for non-residents and realigning the Regulations to the principle
that the NHS is a residency-based healthcare system;</p><br /><p>- requiring chargeable
patients from outside the EEA to be charged at 150% of national tariff, in tandem
with the launch of a risk sharing arrangement with commissioners, thereby encouraging
providers to both identify and recover costs from these patients to access the extra
funding available; and</p><br /><p>- the introduction of the health surcharge in April
2015 which now means nearly all individuals who require a visa to remain in the UK
for more than six month’s pay an annual surcharge as a contribution towards their
healthcare costs.</p><br /><p>Furthermore, those with outstanding debts to the NHS
of £1,000 or more and who are subject to immigration control can, since 2011, have
applications for new visas or extensions of stay refused because of that debt, to
encourage them to pay it.</p>
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