Canadian visitor health insurance

[FredPuli43]

Friend's daughter, British citizen,but never resident here as an adult; lived all adult life in Canada; coming to Britain for three to six months.
Is she entitled to NHS treatment under some arrangement? If not, how easy and cheap is health insurance? She is 25.

[BlueToffee]

As a British citizen she should have an NI number, that would entitle her to treatment on the NHS from her British address, at least that's my understanding of the situation. Hope it helps.

[Buenchico]

She is not entitled to free treatment under the NHS:
http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1194947353623

If Canadian insurance companies operate similar policies to those in the UK, it's unlikely that a 'standard' travel insurance policy would cover an extended period (such as the one you refer to). Searching Google.ca (rather than Google.com) for 'expat insurance' or 'international insurance' should find relevant policy providers.

IMG Global might be worth considering:
http://www.imglobal.com/img-insurance/international-health-insurance/global-medical-insurance.aspx

Chris

[dzug2]

Citizenship has nothing to do with it - it's residence that qualifies, and she won't be here long enough.

Presumably she has health insurance in Canada - does that cover her here - or can it be extended to do so?

[FredPuli43]

Thanks, all. I'll refer her to this site and your answers.

[New Judge]

I have a entertained a number of foreign visitors over the years. Some of them have needed medical treatment. One of them broke his leg and had to have it reset. All of them gave their name and my address when checking in. It was never suggested that any of them might pay for their treatment. So my advice, Fred, is for your friend's daughter to do just that.

[ABerrant]

Anyone who is not ordinarily resident is subject to the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2011. These regulations place a responsibility on NHS hospitals to establish whether a person is ordinarily resident; or exempt from charges under one of a number of exemption categories; or liable for charges.

If you are not ordinarily resident or exempt under the Regulations, charges will apply for any hospital treatment you receive and cannot be waived.

All treatment given by staff at a hospital or by staff employed by a hospital may be subject to a charge with the following exceptions; which are free to all;

•Treatment given in an accident and emergency department (excludes emergency treatment given elsewhere in the hospital);
•Treatment given in a walk in centre providing similar services to those of an accident and emergency department of a hospital;
•Treatment for certain communicable diseases (excluding HIV/AIDS where it is only the first diagnosis and connected counselling sessions that are charge free);
•Compulsory psychiatric treatment.
•Family planning services

[New Judge]

Yes, AB, "charges will apply" and treatments "may be subject to a charge". But as I can attest, and a recent TV documentary showed, they rarely are.

[FredPuli43]

NJ, I suspect that, if I broke my leg in an accident in the US, I would get treatment and no bill.Hospitals there have long been required to treat victims of accidents, whether the patient has insurance or not and whether or not they has the means to pay. That's one reason why their accident departments are so busy. That the country that invented universal health care does likewise is no surprise. That it does so for people whose condition is not one that requires immediate attention to save them from further harm, is, or would be

[flitty]

If they still have a british passport then I am aware you get free treatment .