Thanks for the quick reply! Just clarifying: the government doesn't make it cheaper to get healthcare through an employer (by not paying taxes on it) opposed to getting it individually?
Is health care specifically tied to your job if you live in England?
Thanks for the quick reply! Just clarifying: the government doesn't make it cheaper to get healthcare through an employer (by not paying taxes on it) opposed to getting it individually?
Prescription medication is already a lot cheaper than in some other countries, but people in receipt of certain benefits, unemployed people and retired people get free prescriptions.
Also, the NHS is technically an insurance-type thing, but we don't get billed for healthcare. Say, for example, I broke my leg. I wouldn't need to bring any documents to the hospital with me. I wouldn't have to talk about costs at any point. I would never see even as much as an itemised list of what my care cost.
Re: the above, I'm not completely sure what you're asking, but I think I can guess? Does it help if I say the NHS isn't an opt-in OR opt-out thing. Everyone gets it from birth, and although your NI contributions are listed separately on your wage slip under the taxes, there is no option to not pay it.
It's worth pointing out that the government over here just opened up the NHS to the private sector health care firms that a lot of them invest in as individuals, the hounds. The NHS that is free at the point of delivery and and open to all is being legislated out of existence. It's a sad and shocking story that the BBC, to their eternal shame, has largely failed to report.
So things might not be quite the same in a few years' time, I'm afraid.
We actually don't pay much more tax, on average, than in the US. See this table of effective tax rates (including direct and indirect taxes).
We certainly pay less in tax than the average American would pay in tax + health insurance. The cost of healthcare (whether paid via taxation or by individuals) in the US is dramatically higher than anywhere else in the world. Oddly, this isn't all that effective.
We actually don't pay much more tax, on average, than in the US. See this table of effective tax rates (including direct and indirect taxes).
We certainly pay less in tax than the average American would pay in tax + health insurance. The cost of healthcare (whether paid via taxation or by individuals) in the US is dramatically higher than anywhere else in the world. Oddly, this isn't all that effective.
What others have said, in the UK access to healthcare is a right and provided to all (mostly) free of charge. There is no fee to access a doctor, and nobody is denied care. Some groups may have to pay for prescriptions, but that's a fixed cost.
People living in the UK can purchase private healthcare if they want to supplement the care they receive on the NHS, but they get the same doctors and nurses (usually after finishing their NHS shifts) and old NHS equipment, so I've never understood why anyone would choose to do that.
We actually don't pay much more tax, on average, than in the US. See this table of effective tax rates (including direct and indirect taxes).
We certainly pay less in tax than the average American would pay in tax + health insurance. The cost of healthcare (whether paid via taxation or by individuals) in the US is dramatically higher than anywhere else in the world. Oddly, this isn't all that effective.
It's a universal right that I'm entitled to as a British citizen. Some high-powered employers offer additional private healthcare benefits, but 99% of the time you can get along just fine with free public healthcare.
People living in the UK can purchase private healthcare if they want to supplement the care they receive on the NHS, but they get the same doctors and nurses (usually after finishing their NHS shifts) and old NHS equipment, so I've never understood why anyone would choose to do that.
Actually, in many cases you do. Many NHS staff also work as private doctors/nurses, etc. You many not see the exact same person, but it's highly likely that they also work for the NHS. I worked in healthcare in the UK for a long time and not so very long ago, so I do have some experience here.Correction: you don't get the same doctors and nurses. The one drawback of the NHS is that it can take months to see a specialist; you are put on a list and then are given a date and summoned to the hospital. At least, that's how it is in Eastbourne.
However, when we went to one specialist, I was surprised to see our own NHS GP had a brass plate with his name on it in the same building --- obviously, he was operating as a private GP after hours!