Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Yes Spain is notorious in refusing the card.

hay the only eu country that will take the card is malta france is w
orse than spain I go to Europe 10 to 12 times a year and have for years
france will tell you to get back to the uk they take you in to a room and say you would be better off back home have had it said twice to friends and I have been their when we say no we stopping here they say have cover or cash

my mp when iasked the question sent me this letter ever country as their own system
that's their decision from gov minister

Spanish hospitals have a problem getting paid under the EHIC scheme.

If they treat you under that scheme, they have to bill the UK via the Spanish gov.

The UK will pay up, but the Spanish gov quite often do not pass the money onto the hospitals, hence they are reluctant to treat people who cant pay and don't have insurance.

so then, under what agreement do we treat expat patients who just turn up on the hospital doorstep ... or even the doctor's surgery for that matter?

perhaps there is none, and hospitals and doctors have just got into the habit of so doing, with the reasonable professional justification that their job is to treat the ill and not to act as debt collectors

They'd change their minds if the pay packet depended on the hospital being paid.

They cant be bothered...that's the long and the short of it.

probably a bit harsh, but if there is no reciprocal treaty or similar, then it is the hospital or the surgery who should be doing the necessary at the door

certainly when i go privately for my PSA scan, i pay the clinic/laboratory for the blood test before it is even taken
the consultant bills me separately, but then we have a mutual friend

private clinics for other medical matters also charge up-front, and quite rightly so

Work out the cost of administrating collecting necessary information for charging and the hours of paper work involved against cost of treatment and frustration of staff involved.

Total it against total costs of NHS.

The medical staff in general would not be interested and would only raise the blockages in the system.

Have any of you watched the t v series Costa Del Casualty ?

TANKER , are all those trips abroad holidays

sorry fred but that has to be nonsense, and collecting at the door before treating is a damn sight cheaper than chasing for bad debt

if a shop or a clinic or a surgery or a laboratory can do it, there is absolutely no reason why a hospital cannot

What again

But medics as a whole, as yet, are not as mercenary as you!

If a patient turns up at the doors with a "stroke", a "coronary", (both of which you and Haze are in the right age group for, as well as JB, Max and Tinker), or acute asthma, or a fractured hip or pelvis, or "allergic reaction" or unconscious, are you going to riffle through their pockets for medical cards, wallet and bank cards.

Get real!

There is still such a thing as altruistic charity and what goes round comes round.

But check the costs.

There is a difference between "overseas" patients booking in for chronic conditions and cold surgery, against "disorders" occurring while the "patient" develops a condition while in a country.

The former is a small percentage of the problem and probably does need addressing.

But check who are the abusers first!

with some reluctance, i have to accept that the last part of your comment is fair, even if other countries may well just chuck you out the door regardless of the acuteness

however, non-emergencies as most doctor's or even A&E visits are can assuredly be charged at the door
it's not the doctors being mercenary (or not as the case may be), but as it's the taxpayer, which means even you, who has to pick up the tab, why should WE not collect on the spot

in this instance, the only thing that goes round and then comes round is death!

There is a difference between "overseas" patients booking in for chronic conditions and cold surgery, against "disorders" occurring while the "patient" develops a condition while in a country.


i don't think any of the above would classify as acute emergencies, and there is no obvious reason at all why they should not be charged

if an acute emergency, then see above

=============

taking your argument to what is surely its logical conclusion, the borders should be open to all and sundry, from anywhere in the world, and they should immediately be entitled to free medical care .... and i guess you'ld also argue that they should have immediate access to all other benefits from housing, through child and unemployment benefit

If it is so easy and cost effective why is it not already being done?

you may well ask!

just received the following ......

For anyone who can use a good chuckle.

The Pastor entered his donkey in a race and
It won.

The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey
That he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local paper read:
PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT.

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of
Publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES
PASTOR'S ASS.

This was too much for the Bishop so he
Ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted
The following headline the next day:
NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN.

The Bishop fainted.

He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farm for $10.

The next day the paper read:
NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10

This was too much for the Bishop so he
Ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:
NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . . . Being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery . . . Even shorten your life.

So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else's ass
And just cover your own !!!

You'll be a lot happier.

These are the stories (not the one above) where politicians should intervene...what the hell are euro mps for ?.....there is a european system for healthcare ; it should work if not...no point in being in being in a european medical system.....what a bloody mess isn't it !....just read the above...(quite funny).......

they're too busy supping the gravy at the finest eateries and hotels