A drain on the NHS

So what is your NI number for then?

I thought you could get one of those as soon as you've moved to the UK, in order to apply for work.

So it wouldn't prove that you'd been here long enough to claim free NHS treatment.

But wouldn't it tell the different agencies how many contributions you had made?

Maybe, but what if you'd been born and bred in the UK and never paid any NI contributions?

One problem with people who are not entitled to free NHS care is that the NHS is not properly geared up for charging them and, even when they are charged, some simply don't pay. If someone has expensive treatment and then simply leaves the country without paying, not much can be done about it. They certainly can't keep someone in hospital until they have come up with the money – not when there are already so many complaints about elderly bed blockers. Hospitals cannot be turned into debtors' prisons.

Insisting on showing a passport wouldn't help either. I have a UK passport but I am not entitled to free NHS care as I don't live in the UK, although I do pay UK taxes. There must be plenty of people who live, work and pay taxes in the UK who are not British citizens, so don't hold a British passport but who are entitled to free NHS care. I suppose their passports would contain residency or work permit authorisation of some sort.

Free NHS care does not depend on how many NI contributions have been made and nor should it.

ana if you have never worked for a particular reason e.g. mentally infirm. disabled etc etc, you get pension credits. There are a number of reasons allowable.

I meant NI credits

If you have never worked because you went straight from home to get married or live with someone, didn't have children and never worked then you wouldn't have NI credits. Especially if you were in a same-sex relationship or didn't actually marry.

But as absent says, NI is probably not relevant.

OK - I seem to have got that wrong.

Do you actually know anyone fitting that description, ana?

Labour party manifesto dealing with the press.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCd2N38WEAApneh.png:large

Of course not. It was an extreme example of someone who wouldn't necessarily have ever paid NI contributions.

Obviously.

So what was the point?

I was responding to whitewave's post of 20.29.

And to the whole idea of one's NI number being used to prove eligibility for free NHS treatment.

Do keep up.

When I took ill in France, and needed to see a doctor, I had to show my passport and pay up front before the doctor would even look at me. I don't see why visitors to this country should not do the same.

It wasn't just an extreme example; it was an impossible example.

When I had to go to A&E in Australia no-one even wanted to look at my passport, health card or anything. They just treated me - very well I must say.
However, I do take out private health insurance when I go there just in case.

Surprised to hear a French newspaper complaining about UK health tourism. Surely we're entitled to with the E111 card. We've had to use it once. All worked perfectly. We paid for prescription though which was absolutely fine with us.

The EHC (formently E111) is for emergencies which can hardly be called 'health tourism'. I have insurance as well when I go to the Continent as the EHC doesn't cover emergency repatriation in the event of serious illness, injury or fatality.

I have a British passport and have received care on the NHS in A&E. I assumed they would contact the German authorities and be paid.
They did not seem interested especially as I was not taken into hospital.
Now I take out extra health insurance when I come to the UK.

I know there are a lot of British people coming over to Germany for knee operations.The NHS pays for them. It is no longer the 50s when the NHS was small and efficient. Nobody travelled much then and anyone falling ill would be treated. My daughter was treated in hospital in Sicily in the 80s and didn't have to pay a penny.
As for the DM This story is to confuse readers with the woman expecting quads who lives in Berlin. I don't know how anybody can read it! Not if they want to keep up on the real news of the day.

Last year I was at A&E and as it was crowded we went outside for some fresh air. We got into conversation with two ambulance drivers who were waiting for a call. They told us that they sometimes get calls to go to Man airport which is quite close, to take a passenger off a plane and take them to the nearest hospital as they have been taken ill on the flight. They said they are then treated,operated on etc and then go on to the relatives they were supposedly visiting. They certainly implied that the reason for the visit was for treatment. If I am allowed (well I have done it anyway) it is mostly PIA on which the emergency occurs and it is usually a heart condition.

I was in involved in a minor traffic accident and because the police had been called, an ambulance arrived as well. No-one needed it so it went away. Some days later I received a bill for ambulance services. It was a very modest bill but I was rather surprised to get it. I was told it was standard practice in the case of a road accident and the insurance would pay, which they did. Has anyone else had this happen?