England's government health department said it will send "hit squads" of debt collectors into hospitals to collect payment from health tourists after a report revealed the National Health Service recovers less than half the money it spends to treat overseas patients, reports The Telegraph.
The National Health Service is the publicly funded national healthcare system for England. It is one of the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare systems internationally.
A study from a government watchdog, the National Audit Office, estimated NHS hospitals collected about $60 million out of $447 million owed for healthcare services in 2012. Hospitals collected about $350 million out of a target collection goal of $607 million in 2015.
NAO's report attributed the low collection rate to physicians' reluctance to become involved in demands for patient payments.
To strengthen NHS' foreign collections, government officials said they are preparing to send teams of "expert" debt collectors into hospitals to recoup money from medical tourists, according to the article. Officials also plan to introduce charges for overseas patients who use services from emergency departments, ambulances, maternity units and general physicians.
Currently, NHS only requires tourist charges for non-urgent care.
"We are working to identify those within the NHS who have real experience and skills in this area, and putting them into teams to offer additional support to some of our trusts in areas with high numbers of overseas visitors," a NHS Improvement spokesperson told The Telegraph.