‘NHS Brexit cost warning shows need for EU deal on citizens’
THERESA May has insisted that warnings the NHS could face a bill of £1bn every year if expats needed to be treated in Britain after Brexit show she was right not to give away rights to EU citizens without a reciprocal deal in place.
If all the British pensioners who currently receive health care in other countries through EU agreements had to return, caring for them would require the NHS to spend an extra £1bn a year, according to a report from the Nuffield Trust.
The health charity said this is twice the amount currently spent for them to receive their care abroad. The Prime Minister said a reciprocal deal was needed which is “why it is so important we haven’t just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK”.
During a visit to Plymouth, Mrs May said: “From day one I’ve been clear that I want to ensure that we are supporting and looking after British people.
“If we look at people who are living in the European Union, I’m clear that I want to see agreement where their rights are protected. Of course, it is reciprocal for EU citizens living here in the UK. But it is why it is so important we haven’t just given those rights to EU citizens here in the UK. We are looking after UK citizens living in the European Union. I want to see reciprocal arrangements so their rights are protected and we can look after them. As British Prime Minister, I have a care for the British people living in the EU.”
Both Labour and the Lib Dems have said they would guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK ahead of negotiations.
Under the current EU reciprocal ‘S1’ scheme, British pensioners have the right to go to any other EU member state and receive the same health care rights as the local population. The agreement protects around 190,000 British pensioners.
The Nuffield Trust report also says that if the NHS needed to care for those who currently receive care abroad, it would need more hospital beds – the equivalent of two new hospitals.