The eye-watering working holiday health bill: Tourists and foreign students are racking up MILLIONS of dollars in hospital fees every year - before skipping the country
- In NSW, figure was close to $30million, with $16.5million in Victorian hospitals
- NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard wants to see hospital payments mandatory
- Hazzard's proposal backed by most states and Federal representative Greg Hunt
Tourists and foreign students in Australia are racking up millions of dollars in hospital fees each year before skipping the country.
The revelation has prompted calls for a new national system where all hospital visitors must pay their way.
In September, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard proposed a system where foreign guests take out private health insurance in addition to travel insurance.
Tourists and foreign Australia are accumulating millions of dollars in hospital fees before skipping the country (stock image)
Mr Hazard saw his proposal tentatively backed by several states across Australia as well as federal Health Minister Greg Hunt.
'Regardless of who you are, if you are sick you should be able to access healthcare,' Mr Hunt told News Corp.
'However, there is a cumulative effect with temporary visa holders, often here on holiday, who access our public health system, incur costs and then leave the country with debts unpaid.'
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The need for a revamped system was highlighted after an uninsured patient from China was unable to pay a bill of $250,000 in NSW when recovering from a brain haemorrhage.
According to the Australian, Western Australia has seen a spike in mining workers requesting expensive drugs, while in Victoria the debt in public hospitals was close to $16.5million.
Queensland's outstanding debt was an estimated $11million.
Medical bills in Australian hospitals are often left unpaid by tourists and foreign students (stock image)
Rachel David, the head of Private Healthcare Australia, said Mr Hazzard's proposal would only be successful if all the state health ministers were on the same page.
'Travel insurance is meant to cover emergency treatment, whereas health insurance covers elective surgery, admissions for mental health and basic dental care,' she said.
'There needs to be a solution which makes sense.'
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