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.

In January, the Taxpayers’ Union called on DHBs to make greater efforts to recover the debts owed by foreign patients.

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.”

ENDS

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