Effective from 6 April, 2015, all foreigners staying in the UK for more than 6 months have to pay medical surcharges to gain access to National Health Services (NHS). As of now, all non-Europeans coming to UK to work or study do not pay any medical surcharges, but are eligible to access UK healthcare like the permanent residents do. The new law will ensure non-residents for their own healthcare and to the country's economy.
The surcharge won't affect people in the UK on a visit visa as they pay for their treatment as and when they receive it from the NHS. But the new surcharge being levied on the foreign students and workers would been immense contribution to NHS. All the health surcharges will go for the development of NHS.
As published in Daily Express, NHS incurs an annual cost of £2 billion on overseas visitors of which almost half of it goes to non-European workers and students.
However, the nationals of Australia, New Zealand, Dependants of Her Majesty's Forces and Tier-2 Company Transfers would be exempted from the health surcharge. They could avail the NHS facilities like they do now.
Source: The Daily Express
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