The Portuguese Parliament approved this Thursday several proposals presented by center-right parties and ultras to restrict the access of foreigners and children of migrants to public healthcare.
These drafts now go down to the legislative commissions to be modified and will have to be voted on again by the plenary session for final approval, according to the EFE Agency.
One of the projects was presented by the two allies in the center-right Government of Luis Montenegrothe Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the CDS-PP, and suggests an alteration of the current legislation to establish that only foreigners with legal residence in Portugal can be beneficiaries of the National Health Service (SNS).
Those who do not have residency must present proof that they have medical coverage in their own country or place of residence, except in emergencies.
This initiative went ahead with the support of those two parties and the far-right Chegawhich also presented several projects approved this Thursday, which now go to parliamentary committees.
One of them contemplates that foreigners from countries outside the European Union who are not residents in Portugal cannot benefit from the SNS, although they can have access to it by paying for its services.
The most extreme draft proposed by Chega was not voted on today. This project seeks alter the nationality law and “combat certain social phenomena such as health tourism” that advocates tightening the criteria for naturalization in the country.
The text contemplates that children of foreigners can obtain a Portuguese passport when at least one of the parents was born in Portugal and has legal residence for at least three years at the time of birth; and if neither parent is a native of the country, it is necessary to be a legal resident for at least five years. These residence periods are longer than those established by current law.
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