Quote:
Originally Posted by SlowOne
The last bit's not correct, Si, and part of the continuing myth about our NHS. Healthcare costs for each of us are lowest in this country of almost any other country in the West. See this comparison:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_system
In the US, health care costs more than twice as much per person as it does here. Only if you are one of the 38% of people whose employer pays your medical cover does it come cheaper than in the UK, everyone else pays through insurance, etc.
Yes we pay for that through NI contributions, but if you have to buy health insurance you pay much more, sort of an indirect tax. HTH  |
True - but even without NI their tax bill is also less. I wasn't popping at the NHS specifically, its just that it is the one major thing our taxes pay for the we wouldn't get in other countries.
What I am saying is that, if I lived in the US on the same income I have here, I'd have to pay health insurance yes, but the tax bill and cost of living is so much less that even after that I'd have more disposable income.
Whenever people complain about how much more we are taxed than other nations - someone always says 'Ah but we get free healthcare'. This is true, but the cost of the NHS is actually much less than the difference between taxation's.
In other words that extra money isn't all going into healthcare, so where does it go??????