On Sun, 03 Jul 2016 10:26:27 +0100, T i m wrote:

As an aside (and you seem to have a good handle on all this), I think I
understand because we have reciprocal relationships with the various EU
countries re health cover, if a UK person in say Spain needs medical
help, the cost of that is borne by the UK NHS and in turn, a Spaniard
requiring medical care here is charged back to Spain?

Yep, that's what the EHIC card's for.

However, I think I heard that our NHS is particularly slow at sending
out the invoices and hence we are 'owed' quite a bit of cash?

When did you last get asked for any proof of anything at A&E? A british
accent's proof of nothing. You could have moved to the US and got
citizenship to make life easier over there.

The NHS could recharge "health tourists". They choose not to. Given how
loudly the NHS always shouts about funding crises, this can really only
be because it's cheaper to lose out on that potential income stream, than
to put the eligibility-checking and recharging infrastructure in place.

There may also be political implications, when it comes to "free at the
point of delivery". But one thing's for sure - the NHS will have looked
into it.