Government U-turn on NHS access for expats - Telegraph Millions of British expats have been denied access to NHS care which they were promised before the election. Changes designed to end “health tourism” will also see pensioners living in countries such as the USA and Canada stripped of their existing entitlement to use the health service in an emergency during a trip home. Instead British retirees living outside the European Economic Area will not only be denied free health care while in the UK – except short term treatment in an emergency – but also face a 50 per cent punitive surcharge for the service they receive.
