By . Gerri Peev . PUBLISHED: . 18:43 EST, 25 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:54 EST, 26 October 2013 . Warning: Professor J Meirion Thomas, pictured, says the NHS levy is something the Government 'really should not do' Plans to make foreigners pay a £200 NHS surcharge would create the ‘best travel insurance on the planet’, a leading surgeon has warned. Professor J Meirion Thomas said the Government’s move would be a ‘disaster’ and simply attract more ‘health tourists’. The proposals, which affect migrants and foreign students staying in the UK for more than six months, came as the Government estimated that health tourism was costing the NHS up to £2billion a year. Professor Thomas, a cancer specialist, was one of the first whistleblowers to expose the financial impact of non-British residents seeking free healthcare on the NHS. He said: ‘It [the levy] is the worst thing they could do. The biggest disaster that can happen to the solution of health tourism would be to accept this £200 levy for migrants wanting to come to this country and for students.’ He added: ‘If you sell to the visitor what is essentially a travel insurance of £200, the health tourists will go, “Wow, that’s even easier than it was before with all the loopholes; we had to jump a few fences before. '"All we are going to do is pay £200, which is the best travel insurance on the planet and it gives us entitlement to NHS care”. ‘Of all the things that the Government are proposing, that is the one thing they should really not do – allow visitors and students to pay £200 at the border for access to the health service. That would be an absolute disaster.’ Professor Thomas also said the £2billion figure quoted by the Government regarding the cost of health tourism was wildly inaccurate. ‘I don’t accept those figures; they grossly underplay the total cost,’ he said. ‘For example, I know of examples where the bill for individual health tourists has been between £500,000 and £1million. I know of one district general hospital where they get about 15 health tourists a month.’ He pointed to British citizens who have retired in the sun and then return to the UK when they find out they have cancer or another illness. Costly: A report estimated the health tourism costs the NHS up to £2billion a year . Extra strain: According to Professor Thomas, the NHS levy will make coming to the UK for treatment even more attractive . ‘The longest example I have is 48 years, but I have other examples of 20, 30 and 40 years, who then suddenly just walk back into the country with a serious illness. They are impossible to identify.’ For years Professor Thomas has criticised how the three main political parties subscribe to the mantra that the NHS should be ‘free at the point of use’. ‘The consequence of such altruism - all at the UK taxpayer’s expense - is health tourism and abuse of the NHS by ineligible patients. The general public seem unaware of this deception despite being rightly exercised about other examples of similar abuse, such as benefit fraud. How is this any different?’ A report from the Department of Health this week concluded the Health Service had ‘some of the most generous rules in the world’. And it even found evidence of relatives of migrants taking advantage of visits to Britain to have free treatment. The bill was put at between £1.9billion and £2billion – with only about 16 per cent of the money clawed back. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hopes to recover up to £500million a year, arguing Britain cannot afford an ‘international health service’. The Home Office plans a new annual levy of £150 on foreign students and £200 on temporary migrants. The surcharge is expected to generate £200million. A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘The surcharge proposed is very competitive with the level charged by other countries and strikes a careful balance between making a fair contribution and maintaining the UK as an attractive place to visit, study and do business.’
Professor J Meirion Thomas attacked plans for an NHS surcharge .
He said it would create the 'best travel insurance on the planet'
A recent report found health tourism costs the NHS up to £2billion a year .
By . Gerri Peev . PUBLISHED: . 18:43 EST, 25 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 03:54 EST, 26 October 2013 . Warning: Professor J Meirion Thomas, pictured, says the NHS levy is something the Government 'really should not do' Plans to make foreigners pay a £200 NHS surcharge would create the ‘best travel insurance on the planet’, a leading surgeon has warned. Professor J Meirion Thomas said the Government’s move would be a ‘disaster’ and simply attract more ‘health tourists’. The proposals, which affect migrants and foreign students staying in the UK for more than six months, came as the Government estimated that health tourism was costing the NHS up to £2billion a year. Professor Thomas, a cancer specialist, was one of the first whistleblowers to expose the financial impact of non-British residents seeking free healthcare on the NHS. He said: ‘It [the levy] is the worst thing they could do. The biggest disaster that can happen to the solution of health tourism would be to accept this £200 levy for migrants wanting to come to this country and for students.’ He added: ‘If you sell to the visitor what is essentially a travel insurance of £200, the health tourists will go, “Wow, that’s even easier than it was before with all the loopholes; we had to jump a few fences before. '"All we are going to do is pay £200, which is the best travel insurance on the planet and it gives us entitlement to NHS care”. ‘Of all the things that the Government are proposing, that is the one thing they should really not do – allow visitors and students to pay £200 at the border for access to the health service. That would be an absolute disaster.’ Professor Thomas also said the £2billion figure quoted by the Government regarding the cost of health tourism was wildly inaccurate. ‘I don’t accept those figures; they grossly underplay the total cost,’ he said. ‘For example, I know of examples where the bill for individual health tourists has been between £500,000 and £1million. I know of one district general hospital where they get about 15 health tourists a month.’ He pointed to British citizens who have retired in the sun and then return to the UK when they find out they have cancer or another illness. Costly: A report estimated the health tourism costs the NHS up to £2billion a year . Extra strain: According to Professor Thomas, the NHS levy will make coming to the UK for treatment even more attractive . ‘The longest example I have is 48 years, but I have other examples of 20, 30 and 40 years, who then suddenly just walk back into the country with a serious illness. They are impossible to identify.’ For years Professor Thomas has criticised how the three main political parties subscribe to the mantra that the NHS should be ‘free at the point of use’. ‘The consequence of such altruism - all at the UK taxpayer’s expense - is health tourism and abuse of the NHS by ineligible patients. The general public seem unaware of this deception despite being rightly exercised about other examples of similar abuse, such as benefit fraud. How is this any different?’ A report from the Department of Health this week concluded the Health Service had ‘some of the most generous rules in the world’. And it even found evidence of relatives of migrants taking advantage of visits to Britain to have free treatment. The bill was put at between £1.9billion and £2billion – with only about 16 per cent of the money clawed back. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hopes to recover up to £500million a year, arguing Britain cannot afford an ‘international health service’. The Home Office plans a new annual levy of £150 on foreign students and £200 on temporary migrants. The surcharge is expected to generate £200million. A Department of Health spokesman said: ‘The surcharge proposed is very competitive with the level charged by other countries and strikes a careful balance between making a fair contribution and maintaining the UK as an attractive place to visit, study and do business.’
October 2013 . Warning: Professor J Meirion create the ‘best travel insurance on the planet’, £2billion a year. Professor Thomas, a cancer estimated the health tourism costs the NHS up to