Foreigners charge NHS for care in their OWN country: Health tourism loophole lets thousands of Eastern Europeans get free treatment with cards designed for Brits
- NHS handing out five million European Health Insurance Cards per year
- They allow Britons to charge emergency treatment abroad back to NHS
- But cards are being given to any EU citizens who says they are living in UK
- Eastern Europeans using them in home country to make NHS cover costs
- Undercover Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath obtained card after visiting UK for one day
Back in Hungary: Hungarian journalist
Ani Horvath was able to obtain a European Health Insurance Card after
visiting the UK for less than one day
Foreigners
are billing the NHS for expensive healthcare they receive in their own
countries, a Daily Mail investigation can reveal.
Under
an extraordinary legal loophole, migrants are able to charge the full
cost of medical treatment in their home countries to the UK, even if
they have never paid a penny of tax in Britain.
They
do this by obtaining European Health Insurance Cards from the NHS. The
cards were intended for British people to use in cases of emergency
while on holiday and entitle them to charge the NHS for the cost of any
medical treatment they might urgently need while overseas within Europe.
But
the NHS is handing out more than five million of these EHIC cards for
free every year – and keeping no record of how many are being given to
foreigners.
The
cards are given out freely to any EU citizens who says they are living
in the UK, even if they haven’t actually worked or paid any tax here.
As
a result, Eastern Europeans can obtain the cards, then return to their
home countries and use them to have medical treatment they would usually
have to pay for funded by the NHS.
And
because the cards last for five years, they are worth a fortune to
migrants with ongoing conditions, or who have multiple pregnancies and
births.
In
an undercover investigation, an Eastern European woman working for the
Mail – who has never lived or paid taxes in Britain – was able to get
one of the cards after visiting the UK for less than a day.
Hungarian
journalist Ani Horvath took it to clinics and hospitals in her native
Hungary which confirmed she could use it to get maternity care and even
skin treatments paid for by the UK taxpayer.
When
she asked maternity clinic staff how many Hungarian women had
registered for appointments covered by the NHS, she was told: ‘A lot of
people. More and more.’
Using
the card, she could have registered for a consultation with an
optometrist costing a potential £150 or one with a dermatologist for
£130 – or even antenatal and birth/maternity care for one pregnancy at
£9,500, or a £47,000 liver transplant.
British ministers last night vowed to urgently review the use of EHIC cards.
Health
Minister Alistair Burt said it was ‘completely unacceptable that people
living outside the UK think they can abuse our NHS’.
He
said that as a result of the Mail’s investigation, the Government would
‘urgently carry out more work’ to crack down on health tourism,
‘including EHIC applications’.
In
online forums, Romanians, Poles, Lithuanians and Slovakians can be
found boasting of how they have managed to charge the UK for a range of
superficial health treatments in their home countries.
They joke about how easy the fiddle is because the NHS pays and ‘no one even blinks’.
At the Budapest ophthalmologist clinic: Staff did not check for 'emergency' symptoms and accepted the cars
At the maternity centre: Advice on how to have delivery costs covered 'even if it is not an emergency'
Expectant
mothers also admitted using the ploy to give birth in their home
countries at the UK’s expense before moving to Britain to claim
benefits.
One
migrant who had used the card wrote: ‘Through the card, all necessary
arrangements to do with the pregnancy and childbirth will be made free.
‘I was very surprised that there were not so many run-ins with the authorities.’
Another said: ‘No one even blinked. Everything was solved with the EHIC card.’
The
NHS has spent more than £721million reimbursing other European
countries for treating people with EHIC cards over the past five years.
But
the Department of Health admitted last night it had no idea how much of
that money had been claimed by foreigners using UK EHIC cards to get
treatments in their own country.
Furious MPs said the practice was ‘ludicrous’ and demanded an immediate crackdown.
Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said it was a 'ludicrous lack of rigour' by the NHS
Tory MP Andrew Percy, who sits on the Health Select Committee, said: ‘This is a complete outrage and will infuriate people.
‘It is another example of how soft touch Britain has become the International Health Service.
‘The
NHS is there for British citizens who have paid in. The Government
needs to urgently review how these health insurance cards are issued. It
needs to get tough and act quickly.’
Dr
Sarah Wollaston, a trained GP and chairman of the Health Select
Committee, said the NHS must ‘urgently’ close the EHIC loophole to stop
the abuse uncovered by the Mail.
‘EHIC
cards should only be issued to British citizens,’ she said. ‘You should
not be offering EHIC cards to overseas citizens. This loophole will
have to be rapidly closed because clearly this has very serious
implications for the NHS.’
Peter
Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said: ‘It is extraordinary.
It seems we will just happily squander taxpayers’ money without
checking.
‘For the price of a return easyJet flight, people across Europe can get free health cover for five years.
‘It
is a ludicrous lack of rigour by the NHS and clearly the Secretary of
State has got to look into this urgently and stop this abuse.’
Joyce
Robins, from campaign group Patient Concern, said patients who were
being refused routine treatments on the NHS because of lack of money
would be appalled.
‘People who have paid into the system all their lives are being told they cannot access treatments,’ she said.
‘Meanwhile
those from abroad who haven’t paid into the system can make free use of
the NHS’s money. It is disgraceful and it has got to be stopped.’
Campaigner
Julie Bailey, founder of Cure The NHS, said: ‘Those responsible must
close this loophole immediately, stopping our valuable NHS resources
being used on those who are not entitled.’
The
investigation will renew calls for the Government to crack down on the
abuse of NHS resources by those who are not entitled to them.
The
true cost of health tourism to the NHS is unknown but a
Government-commissioned report in 2013 put it as high as £2billion a
year.
Experts
say even this is an underestimate as the vast majority of overseas
patients are never identified by hospitals, let alone made to pay for
their treatment.
By
law, only patients who usually live in the UK are entitled to free
hospital care – unless their life is at risk or treatment is considered
‘immediately necessary’.
GP appointments are free for everyone, along with A&E and maternity care, which are considered urgent.
The
problem is many hospital staff assume that once a patient has an NHS
number, which they easily get from registering with a GP, they are
entitled to free care.
Health
Minister Mr Burt added: ‘This Government has already introduced tough
measures to clamp down on migrants using healthcare without making a
contribution, to save half a billion pounds within a few years.
‘We are continually looking at ways we can tighten up the process further.’
How I signed up for five years free medical treatment in Hungary - at YOUR expense
By Ani Horvath for The Daily Mail
Ms Horvath received her EHIC card in less than one month
I
have never lived, worked or paid taxes in Britain. But a few weeks ago,
I registered for five years of health treatment at your expense at a
clinic near my home in Budapest, Hungary.
I
visited my local optician, dermatologist and even a transplant clinic –
and was told the UK would pay for creams, eye tests and liver surgery
if I needed them.
At my local maternity centre, dozens of Hungarian women like me are having their births paid for by the British NHS too.
A
practice manager there took me into a bright office decorated with
pictures of babies and showed me a stack of papers. There were dozens of
forms, piled high. All of them had been filled in by expectant mothers
in this one small area of Budapest whose appointments are now being paid
for by the British taxpayer.
I asked how many women had registered for appointments covered by the NHS. ‘A lot of people,’ she said. ‘More and more.’
If
you are pregnant, in need of a transplant, or even just have a minor
condition such as a rash or short-sightedness, all it takes to have your
bills covered by the UK taxpayer is a little blue card.
And
I got mine for free from the NHS without ever seeing a UK doctor or
nurse. For the past few months, I have been working with the Daily
Mail’s Investigations Unit to test how easy it is for non-British people
to have their healthcare paid for by the UK.
Healthcare
is expensive in Eastern Europe and increasing numbers are charging
their treatment to Britain. They are doing so using UK-registered
European Health Insurance Cards.
These
cards are meant to be used only by British tourists and entitle them to
public healthcare while travelling in European Economic Area countries
and Switzerland.
But
there is no requirement to prove you work in Britain to get one. All
you need is an NHS number – which anyone can get by signing up at a GP
surgery, even if you are a failed asylum seeker.
In
Hungary, you have to pay 8.5 cent of your monthly salary for state
healthcare. So you can see why people so desperately want to get hold of
them. They are a goldmine.
A
concerned NHS doctor had told the Mail how easy it was for foreign
nationals with no entitlement to free care to get hold of the cards.
So
in June I phoned a GP surgery in London from my home in Budapest. I
said I had recently moved to the UK and wanted to register with a
doctor. I said my landlord could drop in my identity documents for me,
and they said this was fine.
That
afternoon, a reporter posing as my landlord visited the surgery and
passed over scanned copies of my Hungarian ID card and driver’s licence,
which I had emailed him.
When they asked for proof of address, he handed them a tenancy agreement document claiming I was living at his flat in the area.
Yet
such generic tenancy agreements are not official documents, and can be
downloaded from dozens of internet sites or drafted by anyone on a
computer.
Nonetheless,
this was accepted as proper proof of address. NHS staff did not ask for
any of the usual, official proof of address documents, such as a bank
or utility bill.
Basic
checks would have shown that I do not live there, in fact have never
lived in the UK – and that the reporter posing as my landlord does not
even own the property where I was supposedly renting a room.
In
Hungary, you have to pay 8.5 cent of your monthly salary for state
healthcare. So you can see why people so desperately want to get hold of
them. They are a goldmine
Hungarian journalist Ani Hovarth
The
reporter was given a registration form to take away for me to sign. He
was told it was ‘preferable’ for me to return in person with the form –
but not essential. The form asked for my name, date of birth, place of
birth, address, phone number and the date I came to the UK.
The
reporter filled it in and returned it before making a new patient
appointment for a few days later. ‘Then she’ll be registered,’ a GP
staff member told the reporter.
On
June 11, I flew to London and walked into the surgery, where I was
waved into a room for a full check-up. I was asked to show my Hungarian
ID card and the lease agreement, but the receptionist did not read it –
she simply scanned the front page.
The
check-up was not done by a doctor or nurse. I was taken into a room and
did it myself on a computer, answering questions about my health. I
took my own blood pressure using a machine and weighed and measured
myself before keying the results into the computer. The appointment took
35 minutes.
I flew back to Budapest and six days later, a confirmation letter was issued by NHS England with my own unique NHS number.
The
reporter used this number to apply online for a UK EHIC card for me.
Because I had an NHS number, the process was easy. Few details were
required – just my name, date of birth, NHS number, UK address, phone
number and email. The application took less than three minutes.
Two
days later the NHS accepted the application and authorised a five-year
UK EHIC for me. And so, in less than a month and with no proper checks, I
am now entitled to state healthcare across Europe. And while EHICs are
supposed to cover only emergency treatment, I have found the UK one can
be used for anything in Hungary.
Eastern Europeans can obtain the
cards, then return to their home countries and use them to have medical
treatment they would usually have to pay for funded by the NHS (posed by
models)
On July 9, I visited a variety of clinics in Budapest. The EHIC was accepted everywhere.
At
an ophthalmologist, staff said the EHIC would cover emergency
treatment, but then tried to book me in to see a doctor, without
checking any ‘emergency’ symptoms.
I went to a transplant clinic and said I had liver problems and was told I could use the EHIC for an immediate appointment.
At the birth centre, a manager said the EHIC would cover appointments while I was pregnant in Hungary.
To
have the delivery covered, I would have to get another form from the
UK, called an S2. This simply requires a letter from a GP and asks for
identification details, contact information, nationality, where you wish
to give birth and your pregnancy dates.
‘Bring
back one of those forms and everything will be fine,’ I was told in the
birth centre. ‘We can treat you even if it is not an emergency.’
The dermatologist manager said I could use the EHIC for a skin check-up and for face cream – clearly non-emergency treatments.
I
did not use the card to obtain any medical treatment, but these cards
are a treasure trove for people here because state health insurance is
so expensive.
We can get Hungarian EHICs to use when we are abroad on holiday. But the process of getting one is much stricter than in the UK.
Scandal of online tips to 'screw the system'
By Paul Bentley, Deputy Investigations Editor for The Daily Mail
Health
tourists are sharing tips online on how to ‘screw with the system’ and
milk the NHS for free healthcare in their own countries.
Romanians,
Poles, Lithuanians and Slovakians boast of how they have managed to
charge the UK for superficial health treatments – and ‘no one even
blinks’.
The tips were discovered by the Daily Mail on foreign language forums and blogs on the internet.
Messages
give step-by-step instructions on how to get hold of UK-registered
European Health Insurance Cards, allowing them to charge the NHS for
treatments abroad for all their family for up to five years.
Expectant mothers admitted using the ploy to give birth in their home countries – at the UK’s expense.
On
a forum for Slovakian mothers-to-be, a woman calling herself Bobocka
states: ‘I was working in the UK, but after starting maternity leave I
went to Slovakia, where I gave birth.
‘I
received the maternity pay from the UK and when the paid maternity
finished, I stopped the employment and we stayed in Slovakia.’
She
added: ‘You’ll need a European insurance card – this is the blue card.
Through the card, all arrangements to do with the pregnancy and
childbirth will be made free. I was very surprised that there were not
so many run-ins with the authorities.’
Another
poster, Jantarsan, agreed, adding: ‘Our baby was born in Slovakia and
everywhere the European (the blue) card was enough.’
A
Romanian blogger called Stella writes: ‘This [EHIC] card you can get
easy and fast, and most importantly, free. To get it, you need to fill
an online form which does not last more than five minutes.
‘Once
the online application has been accepted and received your confirmation
email, you are insured! The card you receive by mail about a week. Et
voila! Free medical insurance for vacation in Europe!’
Forums
advise Eastern Europeans on how to get round the requirement to show a
GP receptionist a ‘proof of address’ document. ‘Tell your friends to
make you proof of address,’ writes Iubitulondrei. ‘Write that you live
with them. It will be OK.’
Others suggest setting up UK bank accounts registered to a UK address.
One
man even boasted that he got one by giving police a false address when
he was caught shoplifting in Britain. Because the fake address then
appeared on an official document, he was able to use it to get an NHS
number.
Some
forum users appeal to others for help. Luckaro asks: ‘I worked in the
UK for a year as a chambermaid. I am 21 and I got pregnant. I am
thinking about giving birth in Slovakia, but only on the condition that
I’ll still get all of what I am entitled to here (maternity pay. Child
tax credit, child benefit). How do I apply for the European cards?’
And
a woman named Ludecka says: ‘I work in the UK and I’m 13 weeks
pregnant. I wondered what would be best, give birth here or at home? I
wonder how “to screw with the system”?’
Ivanka replies: ‘You need to explain why you go (I reported a strong family and personal reason).’
And Kobercek added: ‘I’ve been in this situation before. No one even blinked. Everything was solved with the EHIC card.’
On Polish forums, members discuss how the EHIC can be used for superficial treatments.
Mehow
writes: ‘Having the card entitles people in Poland to primary health
care, which includes gynaecologist and obstetrician, dentist,
dermatologist, venereologist, oncologist, ophthalmologist, a
psychiatrist.’
