Will we now have to pay for hospital treatment?

The government is planning to make people pay to use NHS hospitals - even though they are supposed to provide treatment free at the point of use.  Some of you may think I have got it all wrong.  The government is planning to make immigrants pay to use some NHS services.  That surely is only right and proper.

Actually no it isn't.  The government wants to crack down on illegal immigrants getting a job, and so now we have to be able to produce a passport in order to get a job.  The government wants to crack down on illegal immigrants getting a home, and so now we have to be able to produce a passport in order to rent a house ... or even perhaps a room.  Now it seems that we will need a passport in order to get hospital treatment.

Some of you may think I am exaggerating the problem.  Earlier this year my passport ran out.  I applied for a new one, and the new passport duly arrived in a matter of days.  Where is the problem with that?

The problem is that the renewal fee plus the cost of passport photos plus the postage set me back nearly a hundred pounds.  I am lucky.  I can afford that.  But many people are struggling to pay for basic essentials like food and heating.  How are they supposed to afford to renew their passport when it runs out?

Update: it has occurred to me since I originally wrote this that a British passport does not prove your right to treatment on the NHS.  Nevertheless I can only assume that David Cameron envisages a system whereby you either prove your entitlement to free treatment or else pay a fee. 

I fail to see how I can prove my entitlement without producing a document of some kind, and I would be interested if David Cameron would tell us what that document would be, how to obtain one, how to renew it, and what costs if any might be involved.