retired_rachelst

Fine the way it is in the UK now. You have the option of private of public healthcare. Can't wait until it goes wholly private then see you all complaining when you have to pay £50 for an X-ray or £300 for a cast, like you could in the States.

retired_ks reddy

Yah. Much better to hide that they're paying 2 grand a year each whether they like it or not.

retired_navy0614

I'd be interested to see how much of the tax that is paid each year goes to the NHS - i.e. how much the average person contributes. I bet it'd be more than a 50 quid cast.

retired_navy0614

bah, I've been Bertied

retired_ks reddy

I'd be interested to see how much of the tax that is paid each year goes to the NHS - i.e. how much the average person contributes. I bet it'd be more than a 50 quid cast. </BLOCKQUOTE>

IIRC I worked it out last year at some 1650 quid per man, woman and child.

Bit steep really, isn't it? Especially as good private cover can be had for a grand.

retired_may0gan

much better to save our money and let poor kids die in the streets imo

retired_ks reddy

Yeah, just like the US.

retired_brittneyloveshim

disingenuous rubbish. your figures are about right for nhs per capita spending iirc but every other oecd country spends the same or more (in most cases, more), irrespective of the private/public breakdown. why is that if good private cover is so much cheaper?

retired_brittneyloveshim

no, not just for a lefty. even economists who are free market in the vast majority of cases don`t back non-compulsory insurance systems simply because the market fails. you say there`s nothing wrong in charging more for people who have demonstrated that they care less for their health but, even assuming that it is possible to establish an actuarily fair premium (it isn`t, for the reasons i have given more than once already) that would entail charging substantially more to the poor - even controlling for things like smoking, alcohol consumption etc - for healthcare.

dentistry doesn`t charge people the full amount of care, and costs are only weakly linked to care. the dentists who remain treating nhs patients are still hugely subsidised. they have merely replaced free-at-the-point-of-use provision with fixed-cost provision. it`s nothing like the system you are proposing for the nhs in general.

retired_rachelst

US spends well over $1000 per person on Medicaid, even with private healthcare. Less than the UK but Medicaid doesn't cover ****. On top of that people are paying for insurance (if they can afford it), and good luck to them if they need anything more than some prescription drugs.