Reply to How would you feel about losing your company-provided health insurance for "medicare for all"?

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[quote=Anonymous][reformatted for clarity]

^^ sawbones

UK:

[quote]What happens if, as a visitor, you need a doctor in the UK?

Can you get free medical care under the National Health Service (NHS)?

The answer to this straightforward question is maybe, but probably not. It's complicated.

Residents of the UK and certain others, defined by complicated rules, have free access to some levels of medical services delivered by the NHS. The National Health List of those countries outside the EU with reciprocal healthcare agreements - and the limits of those agreements - is a short one. You may also need to pay an Immigration Health Service Surcharge (IHS) Certificate if you are applying to stay in the UK for more than six months. Check the exemptions from this surcharge here.

If you are a short term visitor, from outside the EU, just in the UK on vacation, you may have access to some of these services too. But rules put in place to prevent health tourism - arriving in the UK for free medical treatment - mean you'll still need travel health insurance and will usually have to pay for most non-emergency medical and dental services.

New Healthcare Surcharges for Students and Employees

At one time, students on long term courses - such as university courses - and employees of foreign companies working in the UK were covered by free NHS services. But new rules went into effect in April 2015 requiring the payment of a healthcare surcharge of £200 per year (£150 per year for students). 
The surcharge is imposed when you apply for a student or work visa and must be paid in advance (to cover every year of your stay) with your application.  
If you are student attending a 3-year university course, or an employee of a company on a multi-year assignment, the surcharge costs less than travel health insurance for the same period. Once the surcharge is paid, you'll be covered by the free NHS services in the same way as British subjects and permanent residents.

Emergency treatment is free

If you have an accident or need emergency medical treatment, you will receive that treatment free of charge, regardless of your nationality or place of residence as long as that emergency treatment is delivered at:
- a primary care facility or General Practitioner's office, known as a GP's Surgery
- a hospital emergency room, called Accident and Emergency (A&E) or Casualty in UK hospitals
- A walk-in center providing services similar to an emergency room.

That service only extends to the immediate emergency. Once you are admitted to a hospital - even for emergency surgery or further emergency treatment - you have to pay for your treatment and medicines. If you are asked to return for a clinic visit to follow up your emergency treatment, you will also have to pay for that. If the doctor prescribes medication, you'll have to pay the full retail price rather than the subsidized price paid by UK residents. And, if you run up charges of £1,000 and you or your insurance company fail to pay within the specified time, you could be denied a visa in the future.

https://www.tripsavvy.com/visitors-using-free-uk-medical-services-1662372
[/quote]

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Point is, it's not that the healthcare system is covering oyu, it's that you are receiving the charity of an individual. That charity only extends so far, is not guaranteed, and may (if relied on exclusively) put you at risk for penalties, including future visa issues.[/quote]

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