Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Draft Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, published on 14 November, whether, under the provisions of Article 18(k)(iii), it is their policy to refuse access to the NHS to students from EU countries pursuing courses at accredited higher education establishments in the UK unless they have personal insurance policies to cover the cost of treatments.

All people in the United Kingdom are able to access the National Health Service. However, since the UK has a residency based healthcare system, charges for most non-primary care services will apply to those people that are neither ordinarily resident in the UK, nor exempt from charge under the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015, as amended.

European Union citizens who are currently ordinarily resident in the UK are treated in the same way as ordinarily resident UK nationals for the purpose of receiving NHS-funded healthcare. There is no requirement for European Economic Area nationals to have a ‘right to reside’ in the UK under the Free Movement Directive, nor to exercise treaty rights or hold Comprehensive Sickness Insurance, in order to meet the ordinary residence definition.

For EU citizens resident in the UK by the end of the implementation period and in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement, their entitlement to free NHS services will not change, as long as they continue to be ordinarily resident in the UK.

When EU citizens living in the UK apply to the EU settlement scheme for UK immigration status, they will not be required to demonstrate they have held comprehensive sickness insurance as a qualifying criteria. The settlement scheme will be open to all EU citizens resident in the UK by 31 December 2020, including EU citizens studying in the UK. Those granted pre- or settled status under the settlement scheme will continue to have access to the NHS as long as they are ordinarily resident in the UK and therefore be able to access care as a UK national would.

EU students in the UK at the end of the implementation period will also have a European Health Insurance Card. Under the Withdrawal Agreement they can continue to use this during their stay to access needs arising healthcare.