How I signed up for five years free medical treatment in Hungary - at YOUR expense
She’s never lived in the UK or paid tax here ... but NHS is now liable for this Hungarian mother’s health bills
I HAVE never lived, worked or paid taxes in Britain. But a few weeks ago, I registered for five years of health treatment at your expense at a clinic near my home in Budapest, Hungary.
I visited my local optician, dermatologist and even a transplant clinic – and was told the UK would pay for creams, eye tests and liver surgery if I needed them.
At my local maternity centre, dozens of Hungarian women like me are having their births paid for by the British NHS too.
A practice manager there took me into a bright office decorated with pictures of babies and showed me a stack of papers. There were dozens of forms, piled high. All of them had been filled in by expectant mothers in this one small area of Budapest whose appointments are now being paid for by the British taxpayer.
I asked how many women had registered for appointments covered by the NHS. ‘A lot of people,’ she said. ‘More and more.’
If you are pregnant, in need of a transplant, or even just have a minor condition such as a rash or short-sightedness, all it takes to have your bills covered by the UK taxpayer is a little blue card.
And I got mine for free from the NHS without ever seeing a UK doctor or nurse. For the past
‘These cards are a goldmine’ ‘This card is good if youwant emergency treatment’ ‘Wecan treat you even if it is not an emergency’
few months, I have been working with the Daily Mail’s Investigations Unit to test how easy it is for non-British people to have their healthcare paid for by the UK.
Healthcare is expensive in Eastern Europe and increasing numbers are charging their treatment to Britain. They are doing so using UK-registered European Health Insurance Cards.
These cards are meant to be used only by British tourists and entitle them to public healthcare while travelling in European Economic Area countries and Switzerland.
But there is no requirement to prove you work in Britain to get one. All you need is an NHS number – which anyone can get by signing up at a GP surgery, even if you are a failed asylum seeker.
In Hungary, you have to pay 8.5 cent of your monthly salary for state healthcare. So you can see why people so desperately want to get hold of them. They are a goldmine.
A concerned NHS doctor had told the Mail how easy it was for foreign nationals with no entitlement to free care to get hold of the cards.
So in June I phoned a GP surgery in London from my home in Budapest. I said I had recently moved to the UK and wanted to register with a doctor. I said my landlord could drop in my identity documents for me, and they said this was fine.
That afternoon, a reporter posing as my landlord visited the surgery and passed over scanned copies of my Hungarian ID card and driver’s licence, which I had emailed him.
When they asked for proof of address, he handed them a tenancy agreement document claiming I was living at his flat in the area.
Yet such generic tenancy agreements are not official documents, and can be downloaded from dozens of internet sites or drafted by anyone on a computer.
Nonetheless, this was accepted as proper proof of address. NHS staff did not ask for any of the usual, official proof of address documents, such as a bank or utility bill.
Basic checks would have shown that I do not live there, in fact have never lived in the UK – and that the reporter posing as my landlord does not even own the property where I was supposedly renting a room.
The reporter was given a registration form to take away for me to sign. He was told it was ‘preferable’ for me to return in person with the form – but not essential. The form asked for my name, date of birth, place of birth, address, phone number and the date I came to the UK.
The reporter filled it in and returned it before making a new patient appointment for a few days later. ‘Then she’ll be registered,’ a GP staff member told the reporter.
On June 11, I flew to London and walked into the surgery, where I was waved into a room for a full checkup. I was asked to show my Hungarian ID card and the lease agreement, but the receptionist did not read it – she simply scanned the front page.
The check-up was not done by a doctor or nurse. I was taken into a room and did it myself on a computer, answering questions about my health. I took my own blood pressure using a machine and weighed and measured myself before keying the results into the computer. The appointment took 35 minutes.
I flew back to Budapest and six days later, a confirmation letter was issued by NHS England with my own unique NHS number.
The reporter used this number to apply online for a UK EHIC card for me. Because I had an NHS number, the process was easy. Few details were required – just my name, date of birth, NHS number, UK address, phone number and email. The application took less than three minutes.
Two days later the NHS accepted the application and authorised a five-year UK EHIC for me. And so, in less than a month and with no proper checks, I am now entitled to state healthcare across Europe. And while EHICs are supposed to cover only emergency treatment, I have found the UK one can be used for anything in Hungary.
On July 9, I visited a variety of clinics in Budapest. The EHIC was accepted everywhere.
At an ophthalmologist, staff said the EHIC would cover emergency treatment, but then tried to book me in to see a doctor, without checking any ‘emergency’ symptoms.
I went to a transplant clinic and said I had liver problems and was told I could use the EHIC for an immediate appointment.
At the birth centre, a manager said the EHIC would cover appointments while I was pregnant in Hungary.
To have the delivery covered, I would have to get another form from the UK, called an S2. This simply requires a letter from a GP and asks for identification details, contact information, nationality, where you wish to give birth and your pregnancy dates.
‘Bring back one of those forms and everything will be fine,’ I was told in the birth centre. ‘We can treat you even if it is not an emergency.’
The dermatologist manager said I could use the EHIC for a skin checkup and for face cream – clearly nonemergency treatments.
I did not use the card to obtain any medical treatment, but these cards are a treasure trove for people here because state health insurance is so expensive.
We can get Hungarian EHICs to use when we are abroad on holiday. But the process of getting one is much stricter than in the UK.