Health cover for retired Britons in EU to last six months in no-deal Brexit

Health cover for retired Britons in EU to last six months in no-deal Brexit

Oct 7, 2019 | Articles, News

The government has pledged £150m to temporarily cover the healthcare costs of 180,000 British nationals living in the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The health secretary, Matt Hancock, said workers posted to the bloc, plus pensioners and students, who can currently have their healthcare funded by the UK under existing reciprocal arrangements, would continue to be covered for six months after a crash out.

The government will also pay the treatment costs of UK tourists if they began their holiday before the UK leaves the EU.

“Protecting the healthcare rights of UK nationals is a priority of this government,” said Hancock.

However, the move was met with anger by campaign groups. Sue Wilson, chair of Bremain in Spain, the country where the largest cohort of pensioners live, said: “They keep making these announcements and they seem to think they will provide reassurance. But they are time-limited and therefore have the opposite effect – people will ask what happens after six months.

“What we need is reassurance that our rights do not change regardless. That is what the leave campaign promised, that’s what Michael Gove promised and it’s clear every time they make one of these statements that is not the case.”

Full article in The Guardian

 

Brit expats fear they could DIE abroad with Brexit split

Brit expats fear they could DIE abroad with Brexit split

Mar 6, 2019 | Articles, News

While the political jostling continues between Westminster and Brussels, Brits living in Spain are scared stiff about how they will live from day to day after Brexit finally happens.

There are officially around 300,000 British citizens in Spain but it has been claimed that this could be three times higher with many not registered.

It estimated that there are around 70,000 pensioners and they along with those who have suffered ill-health that are most worried about the chaos.

It has been reported that this actually saves the NHS about £450 million a year with a parliamentary select committee reportedly told in 2017, that Spain charges an average of £2,300 per pensioner compared to £4,500 by the NHS.

Campaign group ‘Bremain in Spain’ feel the worries of expats are being ignored.

“For those with chronic illnesses, removal of their healthcare would be huge – someone with cancer, for example, would need many expensive drugs and would not qualify for private insurance,” said chairwoman Sue Wilson.

Read article and see video in The Daily Star (Never thought I would be saying that!)

NHS could face £1bn Brexit bill for treating expats, health think tank warns

NHS could face £1bn Brexit bill for treating expats, health think tank warns

May 31, 2017 | Articles

The price of NHS treatment for tens of thousands of British pensioners returning to the UK from Spain, France and other EU countries after Brexit will hit a billion pounds, experts have warned.

Shortages of NHS and social care staff and extra charges for new drugs are likely to hike costs for the health service even higher when Britain leaves the EU, according to a new report from health think tank the Nuffield Trust.

The Department of Health currently spends around £500m on a scheme that allows some 190,000 pensioners to access free or reduced-cost medical treatment in EU countries.

However, it is unlikely this reciprocal arrangement will be kept after Brexit, meaning the NHS will face a bill of almost £1bn in total – double the current outlay. There will also be severe pressure on hospital beds, as the health service struggles to cope with the extra patients, and a shortage of staff, said researcher Mark Dayan.

Mr Dayan told The Independent the situation for the NHS after Brexit will be “difficult”, adding that the total cost faced by the health service could be even higher if Brexit causes an economic slowdown that impacts on public finances.

A bigger problem than the costs is “the need for additional staff and hospital beds”, he said. “You can’t just turn on a tap and produce these things. They’re limited resources and are already overstretched in the NHS.”

“The impact of staffing shortages, which we already have and could worsen after Brexit if handled badly, are that some places won’t have enough staff to operate safely, or agency staff will have to be brought in at high rate, which will make the NHS’s financial position even worse.”

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