Visiting the UK. Health Coverage ?

thedoc46

thedoc46

thedoc46

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Expat in the USA
Hi,

I'm taking the family over to the UK this summer... yay !

My wife and I, both British & my two young boys. Both US Citizens.

In the unlikely event of one of us getting sick, what's the deal on getting health coverage at an ER?

I mean, are you expected to pay before they see you? Do they ask for proof of address these days? I may even have coverage with my US family plan? i don't know. If not, does it really matter anyway? I mean my mum came over here to the USA, where they wanted her to sign her life away, after a quick stint in the ER and hospital.. Needless to say, i started receiving bills and phone calls, but once they realised she wasn't a resident here, and therefore un-touchable from collections, they quickly gave up on the calls.

It's not as if we'd look like tourists waddling into the the ER anyway. I recall never being asked for ID at hospital for broken bones and what not...

Has it changed in the last 10yrs ?
 
just get insurance - it really doesn't cost much...

Also its called A&E over here - which you ought to know being an ex-pat Brit....

Yes you might get away with an A&E visit - they might well however ask for your GP's details and you're not going to be able to provide a UK one - more importantly however is that you've assumed that A&E is the main concern - assuming some horrible unlikely event were to occur requiring A&E treatment you might want to think about the costs of a medical flight back to the states etc.. cost of an A&E visit is minor in comparison.

Yes its rather unlikely if you're not on a ski/mountaineering holiday but seriously - though insurance is usually a -ev bet... its still useful when traveling as the tail end risks can be very very expensive.
 
Don't you think it might be a good idea to check this out thoroughly if it's a concern for you? If we all say "yeah, should be fine" are you going to accept that as adequate cover for your family's health were something to go unexpectedly wrong.

Tip: this is the bit where you say 'no' and you have a better, as yet unrevealed, plan which accounts for eventualities because you're an adult who has looked into things properly before taking his family to a different country where their well being is a really big deal to you.
 
A&E is free to all, you may be charged if you are admitted to the hospital or given an outpatient referral. In any case you will still be treated if the problem is life threatening or may turn into a life threatening problem if left untreated....the simplest solution is to get travel insurance.
 
Castiel said:
A&E is free to all, you may be charged if you are admitted to the hospital or given an outpatient referral. In any case you will still be treated if the problem is life threatening or may turn into a life threatening problem if left untreated....the simplest solution is to get travel insurance.
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Pretty sure he'll have to pay for anything but the most minor emergency care. Emergencies are normally billed after treatment.
 
Yeah first call would be to your US insurer where somewhere in the 2,000 pages of small print there is probably something about international coverage.

Also are you not also planning on travelling to Europe? In which case travel insurance would be sensible in any event if it's not covered by the above.

Technically you are only supposed to get free NHS care if you are resident in the UK, I'm visiting the UK for 3 months this summer and I'm half tempted to just sign up at the local GP near my parents, (where I have been previously registered and use my parents address where I get my UK bank account statements sent to). Most likely will just get travel insurance to be safe though, it's pretty inexpensive and makes life a lot easier in the event it's required.
 
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It's all on computer now. So you will have to get insurance.

But it is sad that your mother never paid her bills and you're trying the same here :(
 
I dont understand why people post in this tread if they simply do not know the answer to the question.

OP, just get travel insurance. You would be crazy to travel with a family without it.
 
deuse said:
Really? They are in the Birmingham\Solihull areas. Which I think is a great thing.
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Maybe it's regional but they don't in surrey we had people with address on the cascard from all over world, there was no mechanism here for the hospital to bill them. I remember one American asking me where he could pay and I was like you don't just go home and get better, he was like that X-ray alone would have cost $$$$ lol
 
The NHS has an obligation to provide life saving and stabilising treatment to all ie well enough to travel back to the country of origin. Anything above and beyond that will require travel insurance.
 
A&E, where emergencies get to wait for errr 4 hours before they are seen by a non-specialised doctor because they are..emergencies..

NHS is a shambles..

OP, if you get seriously ill while here on holidays you'll be seen quicker if you take a flight back to the US and go to the ER there. Really, you'll probably have to wait longer in A&E that it'll take you to fly back..
 
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