Private healthcare only for migrants

With the government announcement of a cap on the amount of non-EU workers coming into the UK, companies have now been told they must provide health insurance for their foreign workers.

The government is attempting to take some of the strain off the NHS by ensuring that immigrant workers must have private healthcare, with companies that do employ workers from outside the European Union being forced to pay for their health cover for full the term of their employment contract.

The new proposals mean that non-EU migrants would still be able to receive accident and emergency treatment on the NHS, but they would have to pay for other services, such as doctor visits and most operations, through private insurance .

However, migrant workers who already have work permits will be exempt from the changes, although they will have to re-apply when their permit runs out, at which point they will be expected to take out medical cover . Asylum seekers and migrants from within the EU will also be exempt, the latter due to existing reciprocal arrangements between member countries.

The figure for the cap is not decided yet, but there will be an interim cap until the numbers have been decided, primarily to avoid any surge in visa applications before the cap is imposed. The interim cap will not involve the transfer of workers into the UK by multinational companies .