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Thread ID: 73078	2006-10-06 18:01:00	Fraudster racks up huge health bill	JJJJJ (528)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
489584	2006-10-06 18:01:00	This story in the Herald makes me think. If a person,foreigner or not, needs care can we realy blame her for defrauding our health service? Should the health board just say. "If you can't pay, just go home and die" I'm sure none of us wants to die. Why should the foreigner be any different? And if they put her in gaol for fraud, she will probably receive the same treatment while she's in there. Plus free accomadation while she's inside. Perhaps the prison will pay the health board and that will make them happy. What do you do with a foreigner who needs urgent treatment and can't pay for it?	JJJJJ (528)
489585	2006-10-07 19:11:00	Story? Who what where?	personthingy (1670)
489586	2006-10-07 20:27:00	Most countries I have visited: if you need medical attetion you pay for it. Should New Zealand also adopt such a policy. Yes some of our social structure is based on the walfare state but should we be the walfare state for the world. But I also dont think medical services should held back because of the state of ones wallet, vistor or not. Maybe there is a way of charge back to the vistors country of orgin for expenses such as this or do we insist on a type of vistor insurance to cover these types of expenses.	beama (111)
489587	2006-10-07 21:59:00	Story? Who what where? NZ Herald, yesterday Fraudster racks up $50,000 health bill Saturday October 7, 2006 By Martin Johnston A foreign heart patient has obtained more than $50,000 of taxpayer-funded treatment in Auckland by using a dead person's passport. The woman, who used a Chinese name, appears to have fled when about to be confronted. Health officials said the 66-year-old was not eligible for the free care she received. Auckland District Health Board chairman Wayne Brown said the case highlighted the difficulties in detecting ineligible patients. "It's a good example of the lengths people will go to. These people really understand our system," he said. Auckland's three health boards, serving the country's biggest immigration area, bear the brunt of foreigners' bad debts, which are only partially offset by extra Crown cash. People entitled to free hospital care include New Zealand citizens, permanent residents and visitors with long-term work permits or from countries with reciprocal health deals. The patient with a deceased's passport received care at Auckland heart, blood and outpatients services from August 2004 at a cost of $51,189. The Immigration Service told the board the woman was ineligible and had been using another person's passport to claim eligibility. "The facts suggest that this may well be a case of someone fraudulently using the identity of another passport holder to obtain treatment from ADHB," a staff memo to the board's audit committee says. Chief financial officer Roger Jarrold said last night that officials had intended to ask the patient and her daughter for payment at an arranged meeting - the two women having not been told of the purpose of the meeting. "We are no longer in contact with them. We've advised Immigration what's going on ... We will go to the police with it. "We have been informed by the Immigration Service that the individual believed to be using the passport is no longer in New Zealand." Despite this case, the board's clampdown on ineligible foreign patients last year is paying dividends. Mr Jarrold said bad debts owed by non-residents amounted to $939,000 in the six months to September, compared with $2.01 million for the corresponding period last year. "There's been a significant improvement. It's working better for us, we are receiving more money. It's still a large issue, because we treat acute patients automatically and deal with it [eligibility] after." Since last October, all new patients, including New Zealanders, have been required to prove their eligibility by showing their passport, birth certificate or similar document to Auckland City Hospital officials - or face being billed for treatment. Those already known to the health system have a number, accessible by hospitals, listing them on the National Health Index, which records their residency status. The Counties Manukau board had non-resident bad debts of $2.3 million last year.	JJJJJ (528)
489588	2006-10-07 22:13:00	"It's a good example of the lengths people will go to." Well d'uh.......... Let's see. Someone will die soon without medical care. Someones not legally eligible for medical care. Someone can stay alive, but only if they lie about who they are. I wonder what will happen next?	personthingy (1670)
489589	2006-10-08 00:01:00	It will never be too much of a problem as if you are really ill you aren't going to be travelling to NZ. They already have a sensible policy of treating acute patients and then worrying about eligibility. Not much of a story.	gibler (49)
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