NHS fees 'could endanger lives'
Plans to make foreign people pay thousands of pounds before being able to access NHS care could endanger lives, a charity has warned.
Migrants will have to pay a fee before they can be treated by the health service, according to The Sun.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is set to announce plans to charge migrants to visit a GP, reports suggest.
The National Aids Trust (NAT) said the policy could risk the lives of people with HIV and threaten the health of Britons.
Chief executive Deborah Jack said: "If introduced, these policies will endanger the lives of people living with HIV and threaten the health of our community.
"The proposals, if enforced, would undermine years of work ... to encourage marginalised at-risk groups to access HIV testing and treatment.
"By limiting access to primary care for some migrants living in England we would cut off the only place many of them will get an HIV diagnosis - short of presenting at A&E many years after they were infected, once they are very seriously ill."
Mr Hunt is expected to announce the move as part of a raft of changes to immigration laws. Reports suggest he will launch a public consultation to decide the exact figure to be charged. But The Sun said there is a row among ministers whether it should be set at a few hundred pounds or several thousand.
The NHS bill for treating tourists, estimated to be up to £200 million, will also be tackled, Mr Hunt will say.
The changes are part of a Government-wide push to cut down on abuse of British services but doctors warned they feared being turned into a "form of immigration control".
