Health tourists from EU costing £2BILLION a year – and YOU’RE paying for them
SICK foreigners are costing the NHS at least £2 BILLION a year – and Health Service bosses only manage to claw back a tiny percentage from EU coffers.
The Department for Health said it only recliamed £50m from other EU countries
Figures revealed last night showed hundreds of millions are being lost to health tourism by EU citizens - massively strengthening the case for Britain to leave the EU.
In a stunning admission, The Department for Health has said that it only managed to reclaim £50 million from other EU countries for health services in 2014/15 despite the NHS being a massive draw for health tourism from across Europe.
In contrast, the UK actually forked out £670million in health costs for British citizens abroad as the UK appeared to take a much more honest approach to paying up for health services used in other EU countries.
The revelation was damned as “a shambolic state of affairs" by critics and described as “a scandal" underlining the need for Britain to quit Brussels rule and get a fair deal.
The UK forked out £670million in health costs for British citizens abroad
In 2013./14 it was estimated that health tourism from other EU countries to Britain was costing the NHS at least £2billion a year and that figure is believed to have grown.
This is a shambolic state of affairs and we are being played for fools
Ministers had promised to get the money back but the latest revelations suggest that despite David Cameron's EU deal, Britain is still not getting its fair share back.
Bassetlaw MP John Mann, who received the latest figures in written parliamentary answers, described the situation as a "scandal".
Health tourism from other EU countries to Britain was costing the NHS at least £2billion a year
The revelation was damned as 'a shambolic state of affairs' by critics
Hammond warns Brexit could offer worst of both worlds for UK
He said: "Sorting this scandal out in itself would transform the financial situation of the NHS.
"This is a shambolic state of affairs and we are being played for fools.
"This is money that should directly be going into the NHS and it would make a huge annual difference to its finances."