Medical tourism is a lucrative source of income for the [b]UK’s National Health Service (NHS)[/b]. [s]The Guardian[/s] reports that a major new study contradicts many of the assumptions behind the government's announcement that it will clamp down on foreigners abusing the health service. Eighteen hospitals – those deemed most likely to be making money from overseas patients – earned £42m in 2010, according to researchers from the [b]London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and York University[/b]. Medical tourists spent an estimated an additional £219m while in the UK. The researchers also found that more people leave the UK seeking medical treatment abroad than arrive in the UK for care.
[link url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/oct/24/medical-tourism-generates-millions-nhs-health]Full report in The Guardian[/link]
[link url=http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0070406]PLOS One abstract[/link]