What the papers say: Will the Government’s plan to tackle health tourism work?

NHS hospitals will charge foreign patients who are not eligible for free, non-emergency treatment up front from April, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will announce today. It’s a controversial step, but one likely to go down well with voters angry at people from abroad using NHS services without paying. The move is designed as a way of finally meeting a target for hospitals to recoup some £500m from overseas patients – something hospitals have, until now, fallen well short of doing (just £289m was collected in 2015/16). It’s a step which, unsurprisingly, has been greeted with praise in this morning’s newspaper editorials. The Sun says if this new change of rules means ‘less time chasing foreign freeloaders for payment and more time treating those entitled to free care it should be welcomed’. The paper says the plight of those being treated in NHS hospitals isn’t helped by those who refuse to foot the bill for treatment they’re not entitled to.