United Kingdom stops free NHS care for foreign students and immigrants

From The Telegraph,

End of free NHS care for migrants under new bill

Foreigners will have to prove that they are entitled to be in the country before they are given access to GPs and hospitals, while foreign students will have to make a “contribution” to the health service.

The measure will form the centrepiece of tough new legislation designed to reduce numbers entering the country and put pressure on illegal immigrants to leave.


A senior government source said it was an attempt to target “people who have no right to be here”.

Restricting access to the NHS is highly contentious politically.

GPs will be told they have to check that people seeking to register with them are here legally and issue only time-limited “NHS numbers” — the proof of entitlement to free care — to those who do not have a permanent right to be in the country.

Separately, students from outside Europe will have to pay a £200 levy before they can access the NHS.

Hospitals will be told to step up attempts to pursue “health tourists” for the cost of treatments they receive.

The measures will be outlined in the Immigration Bill, which is due to be put before Parliament within days.

It represents one of the most wide-ranging and ambitious pieces of legislation since the Coalition took office, spanning six Whitehall departments: health, local government, business, and transport, as well as the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.