Foreigners face charge to access NHS

Done, and also posted the link on Facebook in case there are people who don't check in to the forums very often (I hadn't been for months until this popped up in the news).

For the health question "What would be the most effective means of ensuring temporary migrants make a financial contribution to public health services?" I said Other - link it to your NI number, because I've been paying as much as any other British person in my bracket!

Some of the stuff for tenancy was ridiculous - as if any landlord would wait 2 weeks for a response from the UKBA? Have these people tried renting in London? You'll lose a flat in an hour if someone else comes along, let alone 2 weeks.

Overall a lot of the questions/answers were poorly written. I'd have gotten low marks if I'd written a survey like that for my Market Research course at uni. Some of the questions are a bit leading, particularly in the health survey.

Overall a lot of the questions/answers were poorly written. I'd have gotten low marks if I'd written a survey like that for my Market Research course at uni. Some of the questions are a bit leading, particularly in the health survey.

Seconded. The whole thing reads as if whipped up at 4 p.m. on a Friday. After a stonking pub lunch.

Overall a lot of the questions/answers were poorly written. .

Agreed. I had to read a few two or three times to understand what exactly it was they were asking/stating. It was doing my head in.

Grrr.  This is CRAZY MAKING! I am moving to the UK on a Spouse Visa with my family [who are all British Citizens], and from what I'm reading I will have to pay for health services for 5 years!? This was one of the main reasons we wanted to move while the kids are young.  At least they will be covered.  And does this mean if I don't work for the first 2-3 years to be home with my young children, that I will have to wait even longer?  Will my husband be paying for me as a dependent on his taxes to get no services?  And for that matter, since he only worked in the UK for 8 years before he left to get his Master's degree here, does he have to wait as well, or does it just pick back up as soon as she starts work there? I'm so confused :/

Grrr.  This is CRAZY MAKING! I am moving to the UK on a Spouse Visa with my family [who are all British Citizens], and from what I'm reading I will have to pay for health services for 5 years!? This was one of the main reasons we wanted to move while the kids are young.  At least they will be covered.  And does this mean if I don't work for the first 2-3 years to be home with my young children, that I will have to wait even longer?  Will my husband be paying for me as a dependent on his taxes to get no services?  And for that matter, since he only worked in the UK for 8 years before he left to get his Master's degree here, does he have to wait as well, or does it just pick back up as soon as she starts work there? I'm so confused :/

Hey Wren Black, welcome to the UK! At the moment this is still just a proposal so don't get too worried just yet. British citizens and permanent residents would not be affected. If you read the link to the document I posted in my first post in this thread you will see all the information that is currently available. Nothing has been put into law yet as they are still taking consultations (please be sure to take that survey!).

A good article from the Migrants' Rights Network on the topic. The most interesting point is this I think:

5.    Ours is not a contributory health system and we ALL pay for the NHS
This is a brief point, but so important: The NHS is not paid for by National Insurance contributions, it is paid for by all our taxes. This includes the VAT paid by anyone who has every bought food from a local shop – regardless of their residency or immigration status. Everyone living in this country pays taxes which fund our NHS. We must not be dragged into arguments about ‘contributions’. These will pit migrants against non-migrants, and also migrants against migrants (e.g. those with permission to work against those who cannot work). It is vital to resist this line of argument.

http://www.migrantsrights.org.uk/migration-pulse/2013/five-points-which-must-not-be-lost-debate-nhs-access