Back in Hungary: Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath was able to obtain a European Health Insurance Card after visiting the UK for less than one day

Downing Street today ordered an urgent investigation into 'completely unacceptable' revelations that foreigners are billing the NHS for expensive healthcare they receive in their own country.

Under an extraordinary legal loophole, migrants are able to charge the full cost of medical treatment in their home countries to the UK, even if they have never paid a penny of tax in Britain, a Daily Mail investigation has revealed.

They do this by obtaining European Health Insurance Cards from the NHS, which are intended for British people to use in cases of emergency while on holiday in Europe.

The cards entitle them to charge the NHS for the cost of any medical treatment they might urgently need while overseas within Europe.

But the NHS is handing out more than five million of these EHIC cards for free every year – and keeping no record of how many are being given to foreigners.

The cards are given out freely to any EU citizens who says they are living in the UK, even if they haven't actually worked or paid any tax here.

As a result, Eastern Europeans can obtain the cards, then return to their home countries and use them to have medical treatment they would usually have to pay for funded by the NHS.

Health minister Alistair Burt said it was 'completely unacceptable' that people who have never paid tax in Britain can charge the NHS for treatment they receive in their own country.

He said the government would 'urgently carry out more work' to investigate. Mr Burt said: 'This Government has already introduced tough measures to clamp down on migrants using healthcare without making a contribution, to save half a billion pounds within a few years.

'We are continually looking at ways we can tighten up the process further, and as a result of this investigation the Department will urgently carry out more work to include EHIC applications.'

The Prime Minister's spokeswoman said the revelations were 'worrying', adding: 'It's completely unacceptable that people living outside the UK without a genuine entitlement think that they can abuse the system in this way.

'We have already – or the Department of Health have already – been doing work to look at issues around health tourism and abuse of the system by people from overseas and they will now specifically look at is there more that needs to be done to tighten up how the European Health Insurance card system works and make sure that it is only given to people with a genuine entitlement.'

The spokeswoman added that the payments from the Department of Health to other countries through the EHIC system had remained 'relatively stable over the last five years'.

And because the cards last for five years, they are worth a fortune to migrants with ongoing conditions, or who have multiple pregnancies and births.

In an undercover investigation, an Eastern European woman working for the Mail – who has never lived or paid taxes in Britain – was able to get one of the cards after visiting the UK for less than a day.

Hungarian journalist Ani Horvath took it to clinics and hospitals in her native Hungary which confirmed she could use it to get maternity care and even skin treatments paid for by the UK taxpayer.

When she asked maternity clinic staff how many Hungarian women had registered for appointments covered by the NHS, she was told: 'A lot of people. More and more.'

Using the card, she could have registered for a consultation with an optometrist costing a potential £150 or one with a dermatologist for £130 – or even antenatal and birth/maternity care for one pregnancy at £9,500, or a £47,000 liver transplant.

British ministers last night vowed to urgently review the use of EHIC cards.

Health Minister Alistair Burt said it was 'completely unacceptable that people living outside the UK think they can abuse our NHS'.

He said that as a result of the Mail's investigation, the Government would 'urgently carry out more work' to crack down on health tourism, 'including EHIC applications'.

In online forums, Romanians, Poles, Lithuanians and Slovakians can be found boasting of how they have managed to charge the UK for a range of superficial health treatments in their home countries.

They joke about how easy the fiddle is because the NHS pays and 'no one even blinks'.

At the maternity centre: Advice on how to have delivery costs covered 'even if it is not an emergency'

Expectant mothers also admitted using the ploy to give birth in their home countries at the UK's expense before moving to Britain to claim benefits.

One migrant who had used the card wrote: 'Through the card, all necessary arrangements to do with the pregnancy and childbirth will be made free.

'I was very surprised that there were not so many run-ins with the authorities.'

Another said: 'No one even blinked. Everything was solved with the EHIC card.'

The NHS has spent more than £721million reimbursing other European countries for treating people with EHIC cards over the past five years.

But the Department of Health admitted last night it had no idea how much of that money had been claimed by foreigners using UK EHIC cards to get treatments in their own country.

Furious MPs said the practice was 'ludicrous' and demanded an immediate crackdown.

Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said it was a 'ludicrous lack of rigour' by the NHS

Tory MP Andrew Percy, who sits on the Health Select Committee, said: 'This is a complete outrage and will infuriate people.

'It is another example of how soft touch Britain has become the International Health Service.

'The NHS is there for British citizens who have paid in. The Government needs to urgently review how these health insurance cards are issued. It needs to get tough and act quickly.'

Dr Sarah Wollaston, a trained GP and chairman of the Health Select Committee, said the NHS must 'urgently' close the EHIC loophole to stop the abuse uncovered by the Mail.

'EHIC cards should only be issued to British citizens,' she said. 'You should not be offering EHIC cards to overseas citizens. This loophole will have to be rapidly closed because clearly this has very serious implications for the NHS.'

Peter Bone, Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said: 'It is extraordinary. It seems we will just happily squander taxpayers' money without checking.

'For the price of a return easyJet flight, people across Europe can get free health cover for five years.

'It is a ludicrous lack of rigour by the NHS and clearly the Secretary of State has got to look into this urgently and stop this abuse.'

Joyce Robins, from campaign group Patient Concern, said patients who were being refused routine treatments on the NHS because of lack of money would be appalled.

'People who have paid into the system all their lives are being told they cannot access treatments,' she said.

'Meanwhile those from abroad who haven't paid into the system can make free use of the NHS's money. It is disgraceful and it has got to be stopped.'

Campaigner Julie Bailey, founder of Cure The NHS, said: 'Those responsible must close this loophole immediately, stopping our valuable NHS resources being used on those who are not entitled.'

The investigation will renew calls for the Government to crack down on the abuse of NHS resources by those who are not entitled to them.

The true cost of health tourism to the NHS is unknown but a Government-commissioned report in 2013 put it as high as £2billion a year.

Experts say even this is an underestimate as the vast majority of overseas patients are never identified by hospitals, let alone made to pay for their treatment.

By law, only patients who usually live in the UK are entitled to free hospital care – unless their life is at risk or treatment is considered 'immediately necessary'.

GP appointments are free for everyone, along with A&E and maternity care, which are considered urgent.

The problem is many hospital staff assume that once a patient has an NHS number, which they easily get from registering with a GP, they are entitled to free care.

Health Minister Mr Burt added: 'This Government has already introduced tough measures to clamp down on migrants using healthcare without making a contribution, to save half a billion pounds within a few years.

'We are continually looking at ways we can tighten up the process further.'

How I signed up for five years free medical treatment in Hungary - at YOUR expense

By Ani Horvath for The Daily Mail

Ms Horvath received her EHIC card in less than one month

I have never lived, worked or paid taxes in Britain. But a few weeks ago, I registered for five years of health treatment at your expense at a clinic near my home in Budapest, Hungary.

I visited my local optician, dermatologist and even a transplant clinic – and was told the UK would pay for creams, eye tests and liver surgery if I needed them.

At my local maternity centre, dozens of Hungarian women like me are having their births paid for by the British NHS too.

A practice manager there took me into a bright office decorated with pictures of babies and showed me a stack of papers. There were dozens of forms, piled high. All of them had been filled in by expectant mothers in this one small area of Budapest whose appointments are now being paid for by the British taxpayer.

I asked how many women had registered for appointments covered by the NHS. 'A lot of people,' she said. 'More and more.'

If you are pregnant, in need of a transplant, or even just have a minor condition such as a rash or short-sightedness, all it takes to have your bills covered by the UK taxpayer is a little blue card.

And I got mine for free from the NHS without ever seeing a UK doctor or nurse. For the past few months, I have been working with the Daily Mail's Investigations Unit to test how easy it is for non-British people to have their healthcare paid for by the UK.

Healthcare is expensive in Eastern Europe and increasing numbers are charging their treatment to Britain. They are doing so using UK-registered European Health Insurance Cards.

These cards are meant to be used only by British tourists and entitle them to public healthcare while travelling in European Economic Area countries and Switzerland.

But there is no requirement to prove you work in Britain to get one. All you need is an NHS number – which anyone can get by signing up at a GP surgery, even if you are a failed asylum seeker.

In Hungary, you have to pay 8.5 cent of your monthly salary for state healthcare. So you can see why people so desperately want to get hold of them. They are a goldmine.

A concerned NHS doctor had told the Mail how easy it was for foreign nationals with no entitlement to free care to get hold of the cards.

'EVERYTHING WITH MY PREGNANCY WAS FREE. I WA VERY SURPRISED' Here are a few of the tips on getting an EHIC card the Mail found online: 'This card you can get easy and fast, and most importantly, free. You need to fill an online form which does not last more than 5 minutes. The card you receive by mail about a week. Et voila! Free medical insurance for vacation in Europe!' 'Having the card entitles people in Poland primary health care, which includes gynaecologist and obstetrician, dentist, dermatologist, venereologist, oncologist, ophthalmologist, a psychiatrist. I have hardly had any issues when using the EHIC in Poland.' 'I was in Poland and went to the dentist. It is true EHIC is only for emergencies, but who will check? So it is with other doctors.' 'I was working in the UK, but after starting maternity leave I went to Slovakia. You'll need a European insurance card – this is the blue card. Through the card, all necessary arrangements to do with the pregnancy and childbirth will be made free. I was very surprised that there were not so many run-ins with the authorities.' 'I've been in this situation before. No one even blinked. Everything was solved with the EHIC card.' On getting proof of address: 'Make a label with your name, stick it on an intercom or something, quickly make a picture, take off the label and in the bank show your picture on your phone. What is so hard?' 'The easiest is to steal something from a store, then you do police proof of address.' 'Tell your friends to make you proof of address. Write that you live with them. It will be OK.' Advertisement

So in June I phoned a GP surgery in London from my home in Budapest. I said I had recently moved to the UK and wanted to register with a doctor. I said my landlord could drop in my identity documents for me, and they said this was fine.

That afternoon, a reporter posing as my landlord visited the surgery and passed over scanned copies of my Hungarian ID card and driver's licence, which I had emailed him.

When they asked for proof of address, he handed them a tenancy agreement document claiming I was living at his flat in the area.

Yet such generic tenancy agreements are not official documents, and can be downloaded from dozens of internet sites or drafted by anyone on a computer.

Nonetheless, this was accepted as proper proof of address. NHS staff did not ask for any of the usual, official proof of address documents, such as a bank or utility bill.

Basic checks would have shown that I do not live there, in fact have never lived in the UK – and that the reporter posing as my landlord does not even own the property where I was supposedly renting a room.

In Hungary, you have to pay 8.5 cent of your monthly salary for state healthcare. So you can see why people so desperately want to get hold of them. They are a goldmine Hungarian journalist Ani Hovarth

The reporter was given a registration form to take away for me to sign. He was told it was 'preferable' for me to return in person with the form – but not essential. The form asked for my name, date of birth, place of birth, address, phone number and the date I came to the UK.

The reporter filled it in and returned it before making a new patient appointment for a few days later. 'Then she'll be registered,' a GP staff member told the reporter.

On June 11, I flew to London and walked into the surgery, where I was waved into a room for a full check-up. I was asked to show my Hungarian ID card and the lease agreement, but the receptionist did not read it – she simply scanned the front page.

The check-up was not done by a doctor or nurse. I was taken into a room and did it myself on a computer, answering questions about my health. I took my own blood pressure using a machine and weighed and measured myself before keying the results into the computer. The appointment took 35 minutes.

I flew back to Budapest and six days later, a confirmation letter was issued by NHS England with my own unique NHS number.

The reporter used this number to apply online for a UK EHIC card for me. Because I had an NHS number, the process was easy. Few details were required – just my name, date of birth, NHS number, UK address, phone number and email. The application took less than three minutes.

Two days later the NHS accepted the application and authorised a five-year UK EHIC for me. And so, in less than a month and with no proper checks, I am now entitled to state healthcare across Europe. And while EHICs are supposed to cover only emergency treatment, I have found the UK one can be used for anything in Hungary.

Eastern Europeans can obtain the cards, then return to their home countries and use them to have medical treatment they would usually have to pay for funded by the NHS (posed by models)

On July 9, I visited a variety of clinics in Budapest. The EHIC was accepted everywhere.

At an ophthalmologist, staff said the EHIC would cover emergency treatment, but then tried to book me in to see a doctor, without checking any 'emergency' symptoms.

I went to a transplant clinic and said I had liver problems and was told I could use the EHIC for an immediate appointment.

At the birth centre, a manager said the EHIC would cover appointments while I was pregnant in Hungary.

To have the delivery covered, I would have to get another form from the UK, called an S2. This simply requires a letter from a GP and asks for identification details, contact information, nationality, where you wish to give birth and your pregnancy dates.

'Bring back one of those forms and everything will be fine,' I was told in the birth centre. 'We can treat you even if it is not an emergency.'

The dermatologist manager said I could use the EHIC for a skin check-up and for face cream – clearly non-emergency treatments.

I did not use the card to obtain any medical treatment, but these cards are a treasure trove for people here because state health insurance is so expensive.

We can get Hungarian EHICs to use when we are abroad on holiday. But the process of getting one is much stricter than in the UK.

Scandal of online tips to 'screw the system'

By Paul Bentley, Deputy Investigations Editor for The Daily Mail

Health tourists are sharing tips online on how to 'screw with the system' and milk the NHS for free healthcare in their own countries.

Romanians, Poles, Lithuanians and Slovakians boast of how they have managed to charge the UK for superficial health treatments – and 'no one even blinks'.

WHY THE HEALTH CARDS ARE SO SOUGHT AFTER IN EASTERN EUROPE Access to a British EHIC card guaranteeing free treatment is valuable in large parts of Eastern Europe, where healthcare can be expensive. Hungary: Healthcare is provided through an insurance system, with contributions of 8.5 per cent automatically deducted from wages (an average of £30 a month, double for self-employed). Poland: Insurance-based health system funded through the National Health Fund, costing employees £40 a month on average. As in many other countries, the uninsured must pay for healthcare in full. Slovakia: Everyone who is employed must make contributions to state health insurance, about £34 a month or double if you are self-employed. Those who are unemployed can have contributions paid by the state but the health provision is basic. Bulgaria: Contributions to the National Health Insurance Fund are compulsory for anyone in work and are £19 a month on average. Romania: Health service funded through mandatory insurance, costing £20 a month on average. Not all treatments are covered. Slovenia: Compulsory health care insurance costing £46 a month covers all emergency health care services. Additional payments for other treatments. Czech Republic: Mandatory health care insurance of an average £22 a month. Pensioners' premiums are paid for by the state. Advertisement

The tips were discovered by the Daily Mail on foreign language forums and blogs on the internet.

Messages give step-by-step instructions on how to get hold of UK-registered European Health Insurance Cards, allowing them to charge the NHS for treatments abroad for all their family for up to five years.

Expectant mothers admitted using the ploy to give birth in their home countries – at the UK's expense.

On a forum for Slovakian mothers-to-be, a woman calling herself Bobocka states: 'I was working in the UK, but after starting maternity leave I went to Slovakia, where I gave birth.

'I received the maternity pay from the UK and when the paid maternity finished, I stopped the employment and we stayed in Slovakia.'

She added: 'You'll need a European insurance card – this is the blue card. Through the card, all arrangements to do with the pregnancy and childbirth will be made free. I was very surprised that there were not so many run-ins with the authorities.'

Another poster, Jantarsan, agreed, adding: 'Our baby was born in Slovakia and everywhere the European (the blue) card was enough.'

A Romanian blogger called Stella writes: 'This [EHIC] card you can get easy and fast, and most importantly, free. To get it, you need to fill an online form which does not last more than five minutes.

'Once the online application has been accepted and received your confirmation email, you are insured! The card you receive by mail about a week. Et voila! Free medical insurance for vacation in Europe!'

Forums advise Eastern Europeans on how to get round the requirement to show a GP receptionist a 'proof of address' document. 'Tell your friends to make you proof of address,' writes Iubitulondrei. 'Write that you live with them. It will be OK.'

Others suggest setting up UK bank accounts registered to a UK address.

One man even boasted that he got one by giving police a false address when he was caught shoplifting in Britain. Because the fake address then appeared on an official document, he was able to use it to get an NHS number.

Some forum users appeal to others for help. Luckaro asks: 'I worked in the UK for a year as a chambermaid. I am 21 and I got pregnant. I am thinking about giving birth in Slovakia, but only on the condition that I'll still get all of what I am entitled to here (maternity pay. Child tax credit, child benefit). How do I apply for the European cards?'

And a woman named Ludecka says: 'I work in the UK and I'm 13 weeks pregnant. I wondered what would be best, give birth here or at home? I wonder how 'to screw with the system'?'

Ivanka replies: 'You need to explain why you go (I reported a strong family and personal reason).'

And Kobercek added: 'I've been in this situation before. No one even blinked. Everything was solved with the EHIC card.'

On Polish forums, members discuss how the EHIC can be used for superficial treatments.