Greens right on taxpayer subsidy for foreigners' medical
bills
29 MAY 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The
Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming Green MP Julie-Anne
Genter joining the Union’s calls for greater efforts to be
made by the Government and District Health Boards to recover
the millions per year written-off due to tourists not paying
public health medical bills.
Jordan Williams, Executive
Director of the Taxpayers’ Union says “Many
public health systems around the world require passports to
be surrendered at the time of treatment to ensure payment
before foreign patients depart. Clearly, our DHBs currently
lack the systems to chase debts offshore and it is time they
start considering these types of measures.”
“This is precisely what happened when I was treated at
a hospital in Austria," says Williams. "They were very
practical in bonding my passport until the insurance
arrangements were made, or I paid up.”
“While it
is tempting for politicians to use these debts as a vanguard
to justify yet another border levy, there is a much easier
solution: recover the debt from the individual patients
before they leave the
country.”
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