Post Brexit - Medical Care

Share experience regarding ownership of property and/or living in Portugal.
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shanagarry
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Post Brexit - Medical Care

Post by shanagarry »

Following Mother Theresa's (May) announcement on Tuesday I read a newspaper article that suggested one of the areas many have overlooked is the 'availability' of reciprocal medical care for ex-pats living in other European countries. The article centred on France and Spain and went on to further suggest that should the concession cease to exist, post Brexit, the UK would have to take at least 200,000 back into the system.

Given that most people who voted to leave on June 23rd - expected to wake up on June 24th and see that all the Poles, Latvians, Indians etc had left and Britain was restored to its hitherto position (Britain for the white British). Clearly, that hasn't happened and neither will it. That means that if the 200,000 or so ex-pats are compelled to return to the UK because healthcare becomes an unbearable cost for them - the NHS, local authorities and to a lesser extent the schools will have to factor that unexpected cost into their already depleted budgets - as many of the returnees will be pensioners whose contributions have already been spent - (sorry - squandered) and they will be exempt certain other social costs - heaping even greater cost onto an already bankrupt system.

Many people living in Britain having listened to Mother Theresa's sermon on Tuesday through very cynical ears were reminded of her appalling record as Foreign Secretary and her 'promises' to stem the flow of immigrants - something she seems to have consigned to the 'don't mention that' file - she failed abysmally. She does not have a track record of achievement at any level - and given the woeful opposition across the house - we are being taken for a ride by the best of a very bad bunch. It's not too dissimilar to the choice the Americans were given - but at least they had and made a choice - we weren't given one - Mother Theresa or what?

There's a part of me that lives in the hope that somehow this whole Brexit mess blows up in her face and she is forced to go back to the country for a mandate to find a way that addresses everything we should have been told in the run-up to the referendum and lays to rest all the untruths Cameron, Farage, Boris & Co propagated before June 2016.

I can but dream and pray :roll:
widge
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Re: Post Brexit - Medical Care

Post by widge »

The number of British expats in the European Union exceeds 3 million, Spain (host to around 319,000), Ireland (249,000) and France (171,000).

There are some fears that member states, angered by Britain exiting, could try to put pressure on British expats in revenge. As an example, Spain could ask British retirees to pay for their own healthcare. It's possible, but unlikely - not least given that it would open the door to retaliatory measures from the UK which hosts its own share of expats from European nations.

British expats can also claim to pay their own way in Europe, as the UK paid £674 million in 2014-2015 to other European countries for the treatment of UK nationals. However, the UK received just £49 million from other European nations in the same year to treat those from other countries residing in the UK. A striking example of how our magnanimous attitude toward foreign visitors and healthcare tourists, not to mention illegal immigrants, bleeds the NHS of resources and denies essential care to those who deserve it.

I think Theresa May was Home not Foreign Secretary and, as you rightly point out Shanagarry, she failed miserably to reduce immigration to the "tens of thousands". Our membership of the EU was a factor in our inability to control our borders - no doubt one of the reasons why people voted to leave.

You argue in another thread that charity should start at home and aid for foreigners should only be expensed after we look after our own. This is very much in line with new popularism being promoted by Trump, Le Pen and even now Theresa May. Well Brexit will assist the UK in regaining control of it's borders, it's justice system, its economy and its sovereignty - things that could have been achieved from within membership save for the dogma of the eurocrats and Cameron's pathetic negotiating skills.

As you say its a mess, caused by politicians unable to tell the truth to an electorate, tired of spin and soundbites, who in retaliation appear to be embracing unorthodox candidates like Trump. No more spin doctors, press briefings and hype; it'll be more factual, more direct and more confrontational and a lot more dangerous!

Our departure may yet prove to be a fatal blow to what appears to be a seriously flawed political experiment which favours the wealthy northern european nations at the expense of Greece, Italy, Spain & Portugal.
Rampage
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Re: Post Brexit - Medical Care

Post by Rampage »

Spot on analysis Widge.
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