SCOTS holidaying or working abroad have been warned their medical costs could spiral after Brexit.
Health insurance for non-EU travellers could be next hit after Prime Minister Theresa May refused to rule out the possibility of Britons having to pay for visas to travel abroad on their holidays.
It is claimed new figures obtained by the SNP show that a hard Brexit, a scenario with the UK outwith the EU trading block, show the potential costs of medical treatment abroad rising if a deal is not struck before leaving.
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There are also questions over the future of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) service after NHS England updated its website suggesting changes are in the pipeline following the result in June’s referendum.
The service currently gives UK travellers in Europe the right to free or subsidised healthcare and medical treatment.
Since the card’s introduction, UK travellers in Europe have saved around £1.2 billion, compared to the £275 million cost to our NHS of treating European visitors to the UK.
Department of Health figures also reveal that over 56 million cards have been issued in the UK under the EHIC scheme since 2006 with around 30 million currently in circulation.
The SNP’s Tom Arthur has called on the UK government to guarantee reciprocal healthcare will be a priority in Brexit negotiations.
Mr Arthur MSP, who sits on Holyrood’s Health and Sport Committee, said: "The European Health Insurance Card has saved UK travellers over a billion pounds in medical bills over the last ten years and Scotland didn’t vote to give that right away in June’s referendum.
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“Any failure to guarantee our membership of the single market could lumber holidaymakers and people travelling in Europe for business with massive costs should they happen to fall ill or have an accident, and insurance premiums will sky-rocket.
“The figures show a huge net benefit to the UK from the EHIC scheme and the UK government shouldn’t assume they can just invalidate 30 million health insurance cards on a whim."
He added: "It’s truly astounding that the Tory government at Westminster still can’t answer the basic questions over what Brexit really means.
"Will Britain stay inside the single market?
"Will people be hit with a ‘holiday tax’ charge for visas to travel in Europe?
"And now, will the Tories give up our right to healthcare in other European countries and lumber all of us with that billion pound health bill over the next ten years?
“Three months on and there’s no plan, and still no answers, from the UK government beyond the meaningless mantra that ‘Brexit means Brexit’.
“Meanwhile the SNP is resolute in exploring all available options to keep Scotland within the EU, maintaining those vital protections and benefits we currently enjoy within the European community.”
The Prime Minister also said the SNP must take partial responsibility for the Brexit vote despite most Scots voting Remain.
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Ms May linked Brexit to voters being tired of being "ignored by politicians", in a Holyrood magazine article.
She wrote: "The EU referendum also exposed an underlying sense that people felt they have been ignored by politicians, at Westminster and Holyrood, for too long.
"That feeling is as strong in Scotland as it is anywhere else in the UK, and after nine years as the establishment party in Scotland, the SNP needs to accept its share of responsibility.”
The comments were described as “beyond parody” by the SNP.
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