On Thu, 18 Dec 2003 09:33, David Forslund wrote: > >What fraud could you possibly commit if you are entitled to a high class > > free treatment through the public health service in the first place? > > What are your qualifications to get the healthcare? Do you have to be a > citizen? > That has been declared illegal in the US. So we have to provide free > healthcare > to those who are illegally in our country. Is this going on in Norway?
No. You don't have to be a citizen, just a resident - either permanent or temporary (mere tourists are excluded). What you need is the national ID number, that's all you need to qualify.
People illegally in the country are very, very rare since without an ID number
you can't do much. The national ID actually is the strongest protection
against illegal immigrants as well as against fraud.
That certainly is the flaw in the US system because it doesn't want to "discriminate"
against someone because they are illegally in the country. This was a big deal
in California and went to the Supreme Court.
What is required to get a national ID number in Norway? Any background checks? Is the ID looked up nationally on every transaction?
I would hope that there is more than locality used to detect fraud.
In the US, the desire to be anonymous is built into our entire system. There is an underground economy. People don't want to get visible healthcare treatment because it might cost them their job, etc, etc., etc.
My general point is that any identification process has to take into account these
widely varying cultures.
thanks,
Dave
(Think you are a tourist, and you try to use somebody elses ID to get health care for free. Even if you get past incidental biometric checks / photo verification, you still might get caught since there is only one single ID per person, and information recorded against that ID might then show that this ID appears to be doing transactions in two different locations at the same time)
Horst
Horst
