NHS and social care staff from abroad will no longer have to pay the £624 immigrant surcharge, Matt Hancock announced today.
And they will be eligible to apply for a refund backdated to March, the Health Secretary said this afternoon.
Workers coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area have to pay a fee to use the health service which will soon increase from £400 a year to £624.
Boris Johnson first announced the news back in March, u-turning on a previous position after public outcry.
But there was no date on when this could come into play.
Mr Hancock said today in the House of Commons: “All employees working in health and social care will be exempt front the immigrant health surcharge.
“And all employees in health and social care who have paid the immigration health surcharge on or after the 31 March will be eligible for a reimbursement.
“We value enormously the work they do across the NHS and all across social care, and I’m glad we have been able to make this announcement.”
The PM is said to have been “thinking” about the issue for some time – after doctors in the NHS saved his life earlier this year.
After getting out of intensive care Boris was reported to have said to doctors: “I owe you my life.”
And the PM showed his appreciation by clapping his medics just two hours after being wheeled out of intensive care and back to a normal ward at St Thomas’ Hospital.
No10 confirmed this evening that work is now underway, and the full details of the changes will be released in the coming days.
A spokesperson said at the time: “[Boris Johnson] been a personal beneficiary of carers from abroad and understands the difficulties faced by our amazing NHS staff.
“The purpose of the NHS surcharge is to benefit the NHS, help to care for the sick and save lives.
“NHS and care workers from abroad who are granted visas are doing this already by the fantastic contribution which they make.”
The change came after a BAFTA award-winning filmmaker turned hospital cleaner, who works on a coronavirus ward, blasted the surcharge for migrant health workers who “risk their lives on the frontline”.
Syrian refugee Hassan Akkad, 32, a photographer and filmmaker, said that for many health workers, the surcharge was two weeks’ worth of pay.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, he said: “It’s unfair and it’s unjust.
“I would also argue that it’s inhumane.
“I’m doing this job temporarily but for most cleaners and porters this is two weeks.
“This is the salary of two weeks to access the very same institution that they are now working for during the toughest, worst public health crisis in modern history.”
