VAT on private health

[Simonandrod]

Am I right in thinking there isn't VAT on private health care? Is it completely unfeasible that it could be put on and money raised go to NHS? Or is it too complicated as so many people who use it have health insurance? Just interested

The rich people are paying for the regular service too through their taxes!

For the millionth time on MN for ignorant posters like you who still haven’t got the message. Consultants must fulfill their contracted NHS hours before they are allowed to perform any private work. What they decide to do in their free time is none of your business - if they want to make extra money by doing what is effectively overtime privately then that is their prerogative.

Not remotely the same. People use private health care for many mamy reasons. Not just saving their lives

*I pay for private medical insurance for specific things as part of my job. It is ludicrously expensive - about £350 a month. If they added 20%, that would be an extra £70 a month, which I cannot afford so I would cancel it, and revert to the NHS instead.

No extra money for the govt but an extra person queuing for a GP appt.*

It would help because if it happened at large scale, there'd be a huge drop in demand for private services.

The doctors providing private services would likely return to a higher proportion of NHS work, helping with the staffing shortages. They typically see more patients in less time for NHS than private so the same number of doctors goes further in the NHS than doing private work.

I guess we'll be cancelling any health policies we have then OP.

Consultants must fulfill their contracted NHS hours before they are allowed to perform any private work.

There are consultants who have trained in nhs at state cost, who's "contracted hours" on NHS work are only part time hours, leaving them free to do private work.

You don’t see a difference in my child being forced to wait in pain with 0 quality of life on the NHS for 2 years and people paying for their children to go to a posher school?

Or they'd move abroad?

LOL -really, "rich people" use private HC??

I've met many clients that were living in rented places, worked in retail ie low wages use private HC as they were desprate

Iff you have a decent job, at times private HC is part of your works papackage

People use healthcare to get out of chronic pain, get better, save their children's lives etc.
However you wont die if your child goes to a normal school like 93% of the population.
I think it's ridiculous to compare schools with healthcare

Exactly this 💯
Honestly the comparison is ridiculous

Then you would have an even worse staffing retention issue in the NHS

It's the principle.
People get sp riled about private education and the advantages you get.
I just don't understand why they don't get as angry about the privilege of being able to pay to jump health care queues
I'm v pleased that you can afford it for your child and I'm so sorry they're ill with no quality of life.

Aren’t Labour planning to use private healthcare to sort out waiting lists?

For many who use private healthcare - it is not life and death. The most frequently used private services are cataract surgery, orthopaedic procedures, hernias and surveillance procedures like colonoscopies. Life and death stuff is still mostly NHS (and I would say remains best there).

People should get a tax break for going private and frankly people should pay a fee for missing appointments without solid reason. The NHS needs to get its act together and needs more funding but the public also need to be far more responsible with their health and NHS use

Yes, Starmer disagrees with private healthcare and wouldn’t use it, but he’s relying on it to clear the NHS backlog……

I work in the NHS & have done for years. I really hope that private healthcare doesn't become more expensive than it already is. It's not really comparable with schooling, there are lots of low income people paying for private healthcare now as the 2 year waiting lists for certain NHS appointments is just too much. The wait for an URGENT Cardiology appointment at my local hospital is 12 months plus.

Plenty of people might not like the state school offered but they will at least be offered a place. With health it is more pay for an appointment or have no appointment.

Already happening and they plan to turbo charge this. This will only undermine local hospitals as is already happening in some areas but good for us private medics as there is more money to be made. It is totally the wrong policy and both parties don't get it

There is a big difference

It is FAR more unfair that some people can pay to end their child’s pain quicker, and some can’t

than that some people can pay to send their child to private school, and some can’t

if you want to attack inequality, surely you’d go after private healthcare first

Starmer saying that he would never use private healthcare just shows what a disingenuous fraud he is.

A much more credible thing to say would have, yes I would use it to help me and my family because no one should ever put their family through unnecessary suffering if you can afford it. But I would do X, Y, Z for those who don’t have a choice.

This guy is going to be a disaster for chi’s country. If indeed it is possible to be worse than the incumbents.

This. As someone who has utilised both private healthcare and private schooling for her DD only one of these was a choice. We were literally forced into remortgaging our home to pay for £45k of private surgery.

I don't think it's the same at all.
Moat people in private education could get a place at a state school. They have a choice and they perceive private school to be higher quality but they would not be missing education otherwise
.
Completely different to someone being told there is a 2yr waiting list for this operation by Mr consultant X....or you can pay and still have your operation by Mr consultant X, but in 2 weeks.

Neither is right in my opinion but they are differentin terms of reliance and desperation. And I would be fine with VAT on private health care...but would prefer a level playing field for all with no private provision.
I would guess VAT would hit insurance providers and most insurance is provided by employers.

I can see private healthcare being next in the firing line for VAT.

So many people need to use means it would bring in a good amount and could mean they could use the money to pay for the longest waiting lists for the poorest people to be cleared using the same system. Quite neat and equitable really.

I'm so sorry your daughter was ill and I'm very pleased for you that you could take action.
But say another parent's daughter was ill and didn't have the ability to remortgage.
I think there are parallels
Both are only for the privileged and bestow a huge advantage.
I just don't understand why Starmer hasn't slapped VAT on both or neither

What about the family whose child needs the same operation but don’t have a property to remortgage? They might think your private healthcare is a luxury and ought to be taxed? So that the money can go to the NHS?