Thank you noajthan and Rishard w for your kind advice. I very much appreciate it.
The health insurance policy that we have covers full in and out patient costs and many other things. It is considered to be one of the major comprehensive insurance policies which is a bit costly. The limitations it has are a 500 pounds excess per year which I believe reasonable and a exclusions of covering the pre-existing condition. Given that any insurance policy would exclude any pre-existing condition and often has a 500 pounds of excess, I think it can be considered as a Comprehensive Sickness Insurance.
A few months ago, I got my residence card which is valid for 5 years. When I made my application she was working in a factory as a worker not an employee. Once I got the Residence Card she wanted to have a break as the job was very draining and tiring. As we have a regular income from our parents and we have some savings with a stable accommodation, I thought she can have a break and still be a qualified person as a self-sufficient person. It is true that she needs an operation soon but I don't think she can be a sick worker as Richard said as she was not an employee and her condition is not very critical for her ability to work.
So I think we can say that she is a habitual(ordinary) resident in the UK as a she has been exercising her treaty rights at least for the last 12 months as a worker, and now as a self-sufficient person.(
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benef ... ence-test/)
I understand she was definitely entitled to access to the NHS while she was working and contributing to the National Insurance. However, I am wondering if she is still entitled to use free NHS since she stopped working, claiming to be a qualified person as a self-sufficient one. As far as I know, the reason why she needs to get CSI is because she should not be a burden to the social welfare system, including NHS. But on the other hand, she has been contributing to the National Insurance during the time she was working, which is about a year. In addition to that, she is a regular resident in the UK which is the requirement to be entitled to use NHS. So it might be still possible for her to use NHS in this sense. But I am not sure.
To summarise,
1. she worked for the last 12 months as a worker.
2. she has stopped working in January and has got CSI to continue to exercise her treaty rights so that later I can apply for PR.
3. But this won't cover the operation which she needs soon as it is applied to the pre-existing condition.
So she either pay full cost for her operation which I presume could be a lot without insurance, or she might be still eligible to receive free NHS somehow(ex. as a resident if possible).
4. Recently she has got a letter from the hospital that they made an appointment for her with a specialist to discuss the operation. This is because she has been receiving a treatment for her condition for the last 12 months and now it is about the time for her to have an operation which was recommended by the specialist. Back then she was working so no problem but now she is not. she claims to be self-sufficient.
5. Do you think she is still entitled to receive free NHS and get the operation?
6. I think in a way, this might be a decision for the hospital to make whether they will provide the free service or not based on her status. However, I want to understand what circumstances we are in. I don't want to have a trouble later when I am applying for PR because she had an operation via NHS.
Thank you very much again for your advice and help. I will appreciate any advice or sharing of experiences. Thank you.
