Paphos Life

The Cyprus NHS Scheme gets a step nearer...

https://in-cyprus.com/news/local/nhs-pr ... announced/

Being a pensioner with a UK pension, I wonder how they will take the money from me..??

trevnhil wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 7:30 am The Cyprus NHS Scheme gets a step nearer...

https://in-cyprus.com/news/local/nhs-pr ... announced/

Being a pensioner with a UK pension, I wonder how they will take the money from me..??

Greg, I would assume you live here full time, so you will be declaring your world wide income here, and, should you be one of those who has to declare a Government pension in UK, you still have to declare it here in Cyprus. So figure it out , how they get it!

I am not sure who Greg is, I am not disputing that the people here will know how much my pension is.. I was wondering how they will actually obtain the money from me?

They may make it an addition to the tax return?????

Long overdue, I hope its a success.

I think Flyer is right. Using the tax return is an obvious way of collecting the money. What it would mean is that all expats here would complete a return rather than just those who earn over the tax limit or remain taxed in the UK. It would have the added benefit of gathering some tax from those who illegally stay outside the tax system. Obviously the new system will mean "no contribution - no medical card".

Not sure about that Hudswell as expat pensioners are only entitled to the same benefits as any Cypriot pensioner.We already pay the charges for Drs ,specialists,prescriptions etc which are met by us not the UK Government so why would they now start paying? My point being that we are not entitled to what we would receive in the UK but only to what the Cypriots are entitled to if that makes sense?

I thought you were entitled to the same as a local resident, if it was all to be free why would you have to pay at present the 50c per item with stamps or 3 or 6 euro to see the doctor.

How will they know what to claim if it is a percentage of income, they would not just be able to claim the maximum contribution from the UK for everybody.

We will have to wait and see, but I would not be surprised if we have to contribute the same as a local resident.

I understand what you are saying Hudswell and you may well be right but my point was that if a Cypriot pensioner pays it then I would assume we would have to as well however maybe this is something Dominic could ask when he meets with the Commissioner? Hardly something to worry about though as it would only mean €17 in every €1k of income?

Some pensioners have a minimum pension and others have a good income from multiple pensions..
I would have thought that at the lower end of the scale it will mean pensioners paying an extra €170 to €200 a year..

trevnhil wrote: ↑Fri Oct 05, 2018 5:21 pm Some pensioners have a minimum pension and others have a good income from multiple pensions..
I would have thought that at the lower end of the scale it will mean pensioners paying an extra €170 to €200 a year..

Trev In my opinion that is a small sum to pay for a years Health service....equates to a couple of beers a week.

I do not think UK pensioners will have to pay the new fees . We are covered by the S1 . So UK gov will pay it .

Do not know for certain , time will tell .

But if we do end up having to pay , it is worth it .

The UK Government only pays a certain amount for us pensioners. I think the wording is that we have to pay the same fees that the Cypriot pensioners pay... Which we do at the moment ie 50 cents for drugs, €3 and €6 to see a doctor and €10 at A&E... So if Cypriot pensioners have to pay more, then I think ex pat pensioners will have to as well ..

Oh well , at least we will save the 3€ fee to see a doctor .

trevnhil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 06, 2018 8:58 am The UK Government only pays a certain amount for us pensioners. I think the wording is that we have to pay the same fees that the Cypriot pensioners pay... Which we do at the moment ie 50 cents for drugs, €3 and €6 to see a doctor and €10 at A&E... So if Cypriot pensioners have to pay more, then I thing ex pat pensioners will have to as well ..

Trev,

I was talking to a doctor some time ago and he explained that it costs the Cyprus Government a lot of money to treat British Expats because only a certain amount can be claimed back from the UK Government. For some treatments the bulk of the cost is covered by the Cyprus Government.

I would imagine though that the same could be said about treating Cypriots in the UK..

In the section , Persons excluded from any fees: , it includes Greek Citizens . How come ?

trevnhil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:22 am I would imagine though that the same could be said about treating Cypriots in the UK..

It is my understanding that the vast majority of the Greek Cypriots living in the UK are dual passport holders and therefore British who are entitled to 'free' NHS treatment. I don't know about the Turkish Cypriots.

I would imagine that British Expats in Cyprus using the state hospitals are a greater proportion of the population than the proportion of Cypriots In the UK to the population of the UK.

Alewfin wrote: ↑Sat Oct 06, 2018 12:16 pm

trevnhil wrote: ↑Sat Oct 06, 2018 10:22 am I would imagine though that the same could be said about treating Cypriots in the UK..

It is my understanding that the vast majority of the Greek Cypriots living in the UK are dual passport holders and therefore British who are entitled to 'free' NHS treatment. I don't know about the Turkish Cypriots.

I would imagine that British Expats in Cyprus using the state hospitals are a greater proportion of the population than the proportion of Cypriots In the UK to the population of the UK.

Correct there are some 200,000 Britons of Greek/Turkish Cypriot descent, they are as British as you and me and don't come into the equation,... the Total amount of Cypriot citizens living in the UK is about 15,000 mainly University students studying there, I think the total number of UK expats in Cyprus is about the 20/30,000 mark.

Any idea of the ratio of UK state pensioners using the state health facilities compared to people from the UK who are working and paying Social Insurance contributions? Nearly everyone I know of a similar age range who has a state pension uses the hospital for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, heart conditions and operations such as hip or knee replacements.