The health minister says taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay the bills of tourists who amassed $64 million in unpaid hospital fees last year and a further $20 million already written-off. A NSW Auditor-General’s report on health found NSW Health charged $113.6 million to Medicare-ineligible patients in 2018-2019. By June 30, less than half of that had been paid, with $19.7 million written off as unrecoverable. NSW Health wrote off almost $20 million in hospital bills from people ineligible for Medicare.Credit:Edwina Pickles Hospitals must cover the cost of the outstanding bills, which in some cases could take years to be repaid. Health Minister Brad Hazzard said compared to the rest of the country, NSW has a very large proportion of hospital expenses from overseas travellers. “That puts enormous pressure on the budget,” he said. “I am quite concerned, because that money would buy a lot of additional nurses and doctors.” […]