NHS Trusts Legally Obliged to Charge Overseas Patients Before Treatment

According to Pharma Times ---- The government has announced that from April this year NHS Trusts will be legally obliged to charge overseas patients who are not eligible for free non-urgent or planned care before they receive it. The new measures also require hospitals and NHS bodies to identify and register a patient's 'chargeable status' so that other parts of the NHS are more easily able to recoup costs from overseas visitors wherever charges apply. The move comes as the government switches up and gear its drive to recover up to £500 million a year from overseas visitors not eligible for free care, which health secretary Jeremy Hunt claims "can be reinvested in patient care." "We have no problem with overseas visitors using our NHS - as long as they make a fair contribution, just as the British taxpayer does," he said. To get more in depth information on NHS Trusts legally obliged to charge overseas patients before treatment click on the picture below to read more.