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Topic: NHS Fees Confirmed  (Read 11442 times)

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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2015, 09:27:27 AM »
It's a scandal that working people have to pay an NHS levy just because they're immigrants, surely once you're paying NI/Tax you should be immune.

£200 per year is a bargain for the NHS otherwise though and it'll cover a lot more than a £200 per year private medical policy.


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2015, 09:35:52 AM »
It's a scandal that working people have to pay an NHS levy just because they're immigrants, surely once you're paying NI/Tax you should be immune.

£200 per year is a bargain for the NHS otherwise though and it'll cover a lot more than a £200 per year private medical policy.

£200 per year + my annual tax contribution is NOT a bargain.

Not to mention my one genuine health concern is my skin (history of melanoma).  I cannot get a skin check on the NHS.  Monday I am having a skin check in a private appointment which is costing £250.  God forbid he wants to do a biopsy.  I shudder to think what my dermatology care will cost.

But I still get to pay my taxes and the levy!   ::)


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2015, 10:47:25 AM »
£200 per year + my annual tax contribution is NOT a bargain.

Not to mention my one genuine health concern is my skin (history of melanoma).  I cannot get a skin check on the NHS.  Monday I am having a skin check in a private appointment which is costing £250.  God forbid he wants to do a biopsy.  I shudder to think what my dermatology care will cost.

But I still get to pay my taxes and the levy!   ::)

Same!  I don't find paying my fair share but having to pay this extra levy ON TOP of my regular taxes and contributions (not to mention the fee of the previous visas) is really grinding my gears.
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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #18 on: January 08, 2015, 01:25:38 PM »
£200 per year + my annual tax contribution is NOT a bargain.

Not to mention my one genuine health concern is my skin (history of melanoma).  I cannot get a skin check on the NHS.  Monday I am having a skin check in a private appointment which is costing £250.  God forbid he wants to do a biopsy.  I shudder to think what my dermatology care will cost.

But I still get to pay my taxes and the levy!   ::)

That's why I said "otherwise a bargain".  If an immigrant comes over to the UK and doesn't work, £200 is a bargain.


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #19 on: January 08, 2015, 02:33:22 PM »

Not to mention my one genuine health concern is my skin (history of melanoma).  I cannot get a skin check on the NHS.  Monday I am having a skin check in a private appointment which is costing £250.  God forbid he wants to do a biopsy.  I shudder to think what my dermatology care will cost.

I hear you, KFd!  I'm going back to Boston next month to get my skin check.  I'm still paying into a Medicare top-up insurance so it will only be the co-pay. There's the cost of the flight but I need to go back that time of year to grab any tax stuff.  Hope you don't need the biopsy.
>^.^<
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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #20 on: January 08, 2015, 02:44:12 PM »
No news yet that I know of, but assuming it's still going ahead, the NHS levy won't be introduced until April 2015 and I believe it will only apply to visa applications submitted AFTER that date.

I found this on another site.
Delivered on: 16 October 2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/immigration-act-commencement-and-statement-of-changes-in-immigration-rules
They need to set some new powers to bring in secondary legislation to set the NHS levy amount.

I assume they may make some exemptions to who has to pay the levy too through secondary legislation as that is easier to change than the actual Act on the NHS which would take months/years. The Act says that only resident UK citizens and those who have the ILR, can use the British national's health service free at point of entry.

Edit Yes, the Act has been written so that exemptions can be set.
38 3(e)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/38/enacted

It's a scandal that working people have to pay an NHS levy just because they're immigrants,


The UK could have done what other countries do to protect their citizens national health service, by insisting on medicals and not giving visas, or extending visas to those that fail.

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/diet-fitness/new-zealands-solution-rising-health-costs-deport-fat-people-f6C10861122

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/obese-migrant-told-to-lose-weight-before-making-move-400723.html

http://cgull8m.hubpages.com/hub/British-woman-banned-from-entering-New-Zealand-because-she-is-too-fat

http://australia-visa-solutions.com/2013/08/23/health-and-medical-requirements-for-australian-visas/

http://www.canadavisa.com/immigration-medical-inadmissibility.html

At least the UK levy means that people with existing health problems can still get a visa to the UK.

I cannot get a skin check on the NHS.  Monday I am having a skin check in a private appointment which is costing £250.  God forbid he wants to do a biopsy.  I shudder to think what my dermatology care will cost.

The UK's health service doesn't (and never has) provided all treatment for free. We pay privately or have insurance, for things that aren't free or if we want the treatment quickly or on a set day.

The 3 NHS dentist bands doesn't cover all dental needs either although they will pull the tooth if you can't afford to pay private costs. NHS dental treatment is quite basic/ lower quality i.e. crowns, which part of the mouth they can use white filling in. That's why many prefer to pay privately for some dental work or take out dental insurance.

The same with NHS glasses.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 07:08:51 PM by Sirius »


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #21 on: January 08, 2015, 03:18:07 PM »
The UK's health service doesn't (and never has) provided all treatment for free. We pay privately or have insurance, for things that aren't free or if we want the treatment quickly or on a set day.

The 3 NHS dentist bands doesn't cover all dental needs either although they will pull the tooth if you can't afford to pay private costs. NHS dental treatment is quite basic/ lower quality i.e. crowns, which part of the mouth they can use white filling in. That's why many prefer to pay privately for some dental work or take out dental insurance.

The same with NHS glasses.


Good fair point about many other things not being covered on the NHS.  I just feel confident that melanoma will be my demise (hopefully not until I'm nice and old).  My uncle was just diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma (terminal) which has motivated me to go private.

I just hate that skin cancer is not taken seriously here.  I've had two melanomas removed that I was NOT suspicious of.  Only a good dermatologist didn't like the look of them and biopsied them, resulting in early diagnosis and easy removal.  I wouldn't have asked about them.   ::)

My GP is great and has referred me to a top notch guy.  But unfortunately I can't be seen by him on the NHS or through my private insurance.  I'm actually starting to wonder what my private insurance actually does for me...

I just wish the new levy would give me "credit" for my out of pocket private treatment.   ;)


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #22 on: January 08, 2015, 03:58:25 PM »
Good fair point about many other things not being covered on the NHS.  I just feel confident that melanoma will be my demise (hopefully not until I'm nice and old).  My uncle was just diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma (terminal) which has motivated me to go private.

Fingers crossed that all your tests are clear.

I just hate that skin cancer is not taken seriously here.  

It's not so much that it isn't taken seriously here, but more that the NHS can't possibly fund everything. I have had to pay privately for my children because the NHS didn't cover the cost and one of these was life changing, but worth every penny I paid.

I just wish the new levy would give me "credit" for my out of pocket private treatment.   ;)

 ;D If that happens then I will be asking for all the money I have paid out for my childrens' private treatment over the years and for the money I have given to fundraising efforts from parents for their childs treatment.

At least the NHS levy money is going back into the NHS. This Act means it will be easier to collect the billions that other countries owe the UK health service for their citizens treatment and bill individuals who are not allowed free treatment. Perhaps this will mean that the NHS can then fund other checks.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 04:05:16 PM by Sirius »


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #23 on: January 08, 2015, 04:04:04 PM »
At least the NHS levy money is going back into the NHS.

Is this true?
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #24 on: January 08, 2015, 04:31:23 PM »
Page 8
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/329789/NHS_Implentatation_Plan_Phase_3.PDF

"The income from the new health surcharge and increased levels of EEA reporting will
be reinvested in NHS frontline services via allocations to commissioners. The income
generated by individual providers when recovering costs from non-EEA chargeable
patients will be reinvested by the organisations themselves"


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #25 on: January 08, 2015, 04:36:58 PM »
That is interesting as the text of the Act itself states the possibility that the funds could go into the Consolidated Fund (the general pot).

I suppose we will have to wait and see where they end up.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 04:39:08 PM by sonofasailor »
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #26 on: January 08, 2015, 07:17:54 PM »
That is interesting as the text of the Act itself states the possibility that the funds could go into the Consolidated Fund (the general pot).

I suppose we will have to wait and see where they end up.

The NHS levy fees will be split between the NHS systems of the 4 countries of the UK. The UK will negotiate any health agreements between other countries and the UK, for all 4 UK countries NHS.

LOL at the typo in the example on page 64.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/329789/NHS_Implentatation_Plan_Phase_3.PDF
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 07:20:32 PM by Sirius »


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #27 on: January 08, 2015, 08:47:48 PM »
£200 per year + my annual tax contribution is NOT a bargain.

Compared to the $23000 that I split with my company (50/50) for healthcare last year in the US (one emergency room visit with an ultrasound, otherwise simple preventative medicine) it is rather good value.

That's not to say the charge is right, coming on top of income tax, but compared to American healthcare the NHS is wonderful.   Note that if you haven't lived in the US for a while the cost of healthcare has increased dramatically in the past 10-15 years.  When I first moved to the US it was a non-issue, but it is now the main long term reason for my wanting to leave the US.

If we have to pay the 200 quid a year for my wife for 5 years we will do so happy in the knowledge that we won't have to deal with mountains of outrageously inflated hospital bills and insurance company denials / refusals if any of us ever gets seriously ill or injured.   I dread this happening in the US.


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #28 on: January 09, 2015, 12:27:13 PM »
Good fair point about many other things not being covered on the NHS.  I just feel confident that melanoma will be my demise (hopefully not until I'm nice and old).  My uncle was just diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma (terminal) which has motivated me to go private.

I just hate that skin cancer is not taken seriously here.  I've had two melanomas removed that I was NOT suspicious of.  Only a good dermatologist didn't like the look of them and biopsied them, resulting in early diagnosis and easy removal.  I wouldn't have asked about them.   ::)

My GP is great and has referred me to a top notch guy.  But unfortunately I can't be seen by him on the NHS or through my private insurance.  I'm actually starting to wonder what my private insurance actually does for me...

I just wish the new levy would give me "credit" for my out of pocket private treatment.   ;)

I am so so surprised that you cannot be tested under the NHS for skin cancer! I was under the impression that anything cancer related was dealt with quickly.

I have no problem with a levy for my husband who is on a spousal visa. In fact I will feel better when we have paid it. We are retired but have paid taxes here for years as non residents. I amended my private insurance to cover me for a year after returning to the UK just in case I needed inpatient treatment and was charged for the service. Maybe I should keep it on as I have a history of lymphoma and would hate to think I could not be referred for that should I suspect a recurrence. My husband's private health insurance was attached to his job abroad so it lapsed when we came here. He has received excellent GP treatment under the NHS since our arrival.
Married 1966, left UK 1969, returned 1998, left again 2000, returned June 2014 (husband on spousal visa) granted FLR(M) November 30th 2016  and ILR on  24th May, 2019. Yeah!


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Re: NHS Fees Confirmed
« Reply #29 on: January 09, 2015, 12:47:34 PM »
We should be cautious when comparing US to UK healthcare. I know this is a US/UK site, but it would also be easy to compare to say South Africa where, I am told by my SA friend, if you don't pay cash upfront for a treatment they roll you outside for the coroner to pick up.

The point that many make with this added fee is that they are already paying taxes that go to the NHS, the same taxes as anyone in the UK, and that this fee is on top of that. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE NHS HEALTHCARE. It is funded through taxation, just as are the roads or Trident. Imagine driving down the road and as an immigrant being asked to pull over and throw £2 in a bucket every few miles, when you already pay for the roads through various taxes. Not everyone....just you as an immigrant. You might not march on Westminster over it....but it would rankle.

Again, in comparison to the US's notoriously foul system, £200 may not seem like much.......to someone from Haiti?
I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair. - AOC


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