@bhgardeners wrote:
Yes Expats. Would think you could quadruple that number easily. They maintain N ddress here, usually at a child's house, they come over at least once a year for dental, eye, health care. Whilst they have, mostly, contributed all their lives they have chosen to retire and spend their pensions(including state, in another "better" country - maybe we can see the logic behind Scottish RESIDENTS having a vote on independance. Then there are the ones travelling who spend exactly the right amount of time in this country to qualify for anything they need whilst renting out their property the rest of the year. They too will have paid in most of their working lives. So do they use the credit they gained, abuse the system or pay for everything.
e.g. We recently had a case in the local papers - retired couple came back here and took jobs as live in carers(paying tax and NI) so one of them could access healthcare. Unfortunately condition is terminal, the patient has been asked to leave hospital, has nowhere to go since live in was for working and they both cannot work, the local authority has basically refused to house them as they currently have no address of their own, they have gone to the local paper saying they should, most people responding were saying they should be housed but a few cynics like me say they have a house elsewhere why cannot they sell or let it to pay for something here, the person not being well enough to travel home. Difficult one isn't it - they have recently paid into the system but they came here for healthcare which they would have been charged for in their adopted country. Right or wrong - I do not know.
Then the health tourists - think there are very many more than are counted as well. There needs to be a simple reporting ststem and a central invoicing point. Doctors haven't time to investigate every patient so pass it onto somebody who does.
Yes it is a bit like an insurance. As children and adults OH and I barely troubled the Doctors at all. However, in the last 10 years OH has had loads of problems which the NHS has(mostly) paid for. My daughter rarely is ill, her daughter is rarely ill, my son was and still is well known at both Doctors and the hospital. He has made up for all the treatment we didn't need. It is swings and roundabouts.
It is indeed swings and roundabouts; we pay into the system with the promise we can access it if needed but hope we need it as little as possible. We don't begrudge those who genuinely need to access it a lot because we appreciate we are fortunate to have good health, are happy to provide for those less fortunate and know that one day we may have such a need.
I honestly don't see what the problem is with Expats though, is it a social envy thing? They can afford to live in a nicer place, they choose to spend their money elsewhere.
They would have to pay for treament in an adoptive country because they have not paid contributions to any national health system in that country; so they use the services of the health system that they have paid for!
If you paid for a wedding reception at a social club in Birmingham but then went off to Seville to get married and honemoon in a lovely little spot, what would be your first thought if the manager of the reception venue said "No you can't come back here now for your reception, you chose to go off abroad spending your money over there on a fancy wedding and honeymoon, don't think you can come back here when you feel like it for a reception"?
I'd suggest your first thought would be "but I've paid you for it!"
