Hmm - I think there's perhaps a bit more to this than at first meets the eye? The UK will continue to provide emergency treatment in A & Es, walk-in centres and from GPs free of charge for Manx residents who are taken ill in the UK. What has changed and will be charged for in future is for subsequent in-patient treatment in hospitals. And Manx residents who are referred by Manx hospitals to hospitals for treatment in the UK will continue to have that treatment paid for by the Manx government as at present. The Manx Government appears not to have made its mind up as to what it will and won't charge UK residents for in the future.

How true they are, I don't know, but there are stories circulating around Liverpool (where I still have family) that Manx residents who have been refused a referral to a UK hospital for specialist treatment are turning up and presenting themselves for treatment at A & Es with a view to trying to secure an in-patient admission for treatment their own government has refused to refer them for. I have been sceptical about these stories to date but perhaps there is something in them after all and the UK government has decided to clamp down on such health 'tourists'? Or, given that the reciprocal arrangements with some of the Channel Islands are being ended at the same time, this is linked to their residency laws and who is and isn't allowed to have resident status in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands?

SM

It is Feb 1st and not April 1st
Looks likeI will be knocking the Isle of Man off my places to visit list
Is the Isle of Man in the EEC?

Hmm - I think there's perhaps a bit more to this than at first meets the eye?

I'm sure there is, and I'm all for stopping health tourism, but the Isle of Man Government currently spends in excess of £8m annually on hospital treatment through hospitals in the UK for island residents referred to the UK for treatment....and there are going to be quite a few people who are going to be affected by this decision, such as the IOM residents who are disabled and those with chronic illness, who are going to have a problem obtaining health cover to visit the UK"¦.. plus what about those residents in the IOM having served or are serving in the British forces.? Surely they are going to be exempt from charges.?

I'm not convinced it's solely about residency"¦The health agreements the UK have with a number of European countries who are outside the EU, they are under scrutiny, as the Government have stated that providing reciprocal health care agreements with crown dependencies is no longer "value for money" for the British taxpayer.
The IOM will have no choice but to charge because the UK Government have made it quite clear that it is no longer prepared to fund the provision of healthcare for its own residents who travel outside the UK.

As you say, Accident and Emergency and scheduled referrals for specialist treatment in the UK will not be charged to the patient, but the ending of the agreement means that most IOM residents will face charges for unscheduled hospital in-patient treatment in the UK from 1st April, and they are being advised to get travel insurance to cover this possibility"¦. UK visitors to the Isle of Man will face charges for unscheduled hospital in-patient treatment.

Well., it's not going to affect me personally because I take out a yearly policy for Europe, but the bottom line is, that if you fancy a little jaunt/holiday from the UK over to the IOM and visa versa, you are being advised to have medical insurance from 01/04/10, because if you end up as an unscheduled in-patient in hospital"¦"¦.it may/will cost you.

Sanji

On the subject of insurance, at present UK only policies normally cover the Isle of Man - how long before the companies decide to count it as Europe?