VAT on private healthcare?

[justasking111]

Neil Kinnock has an idea for Rachel Reeves. Putting Vat on private healthcare would raise 2 billion pounds a year which could improve the NHS.

I have my doubts about this helping unless it's ring fenced for the NHS.

He's also said that anyone with assets of ten million pounds plus should pay 2% tax on it.

I am having to pay privately for my 1 year old to have an operation this week because of the NHS wait lists and piss poor care from our NHS GP.

Many people use whatever they can to go private out of desperation. This would be a massive slap in the face and make it out of reach for many.

It’s a completely idiotic idea and would only increase the load on the NHS - which needs much more than just money thrown at it!

We need to move to a hybrid system like France, Australia etc and that’s the bottom line.

Let me guess. He has assets of £7m or £8m 😂

It makes sense to me. Private healthcare is not essential and is certainly not a charity. It should not be VAT exempt. Whilst it won't raise huge amounts, it is about fairness and pragmatism. Is it fair that people who can afford (defined as able to choose, even if it is a stretch) private healthcare get an extra tax break?

Well they did it to private education, the argument being all the money that would be raised for state education....

Is it fair that despite paying national insurance we as a family have been forced into using private healthcare due to the frankly horrific waiting times? Would you say that making a 17 year old wait 2 years for ‘urgent’ spinal surgery, deteriorating physically + mentally was ethical or acceptable? I certainly didn’t and we did what we had to do - aka remortgage our house and pay £50k for the surgery to be done privately in a timely manner. We learnt our lesson after that and got better health insurance.

I’m an AHP who worked in the NHS for over 20 years - never did I think that I’d be having to spend money on private health insurance but these days it’s either that or suffer on an endless waiting list.

9.5 million apparently

I’m not convinced by that logic. It feels just as natural to say: they’re already not burdening the public purse for their healthcare, why should we add an extra tax on top. No one else currently pays VAT on healthcare, so this looks more like a sin tax, but for what sin?

A negative VAT rate seems a better idea, ie remove costs from the state and we will subsidise some portion of that, as an incentive and recognition. Reduce tax burden. Win win.

But what I find most dismal is the perpetual focus on how to raise tax or how cut costs, rather than how to raise growth. The same tax take increase could come from growing GDP by about 0.2%. Let’s have more politicians talking about how to do that.

There was on a thread recently people who had taken out loans for surgery to hang onto their jobs. Waiting lists seem to be a postal code lottery.

Here teacher friend waited 2.5 years for urgent hip surgery. Ditto time for for cataracts.

It'll affect health care insurance too.

There's an exception to this if the NHS offload patients into the private system. Which our health board does when they've cocked up and are facing being sued.

They used the argument for private education - don't see the difference personally.

But if people do pay to go privately surely that helps alleviate the NHS?

Still waiting at our school for essential building work on the existing building. Never mind needing paper, crayons, glue, books. New chairs which the PTA are working on.

I’d argue, given the state and culture of the NHS, private healthcare is essential. Certainly my late husband would have died years and years earlier if it’d been left to the NHS to look after him!

You already pay VAT on private healthcare if the consultant is VAT registered.

The problem with the politics of envy is that those that espouse it are often irrational. They would rather everyone received worse treatment, than a few got better treatment freeing up resources for others, even when the effect of that is to improve the outcomes for everyone.

people who go private (like me) do so out of desperation. I have private medical insurance through work but other times I just need to pay out of pocket because the wait times are unacceptable. Now adding VAT on top is a slap in the face sorry but not acceptable

People who pay for private education would argue the same - it alleviates pressure on state schools. But no-one likes that argument.

If you think private education promotes inequality, how can you argue that private healthcare doesn't?

Bloody hell, I would be really upset if this happened. Whatever the rights and wrongs, it would probably tip me into cancelling my PHI which would be very upsetting for various reasons.

Clever you. I've just checked the surgeon I'm waiting to see on companies house. He has three companies, so bound to be paying VAT.

You’re fortunate if you’ve never been in a situation to see private healthcare as ‘essential’.

As I said, many people resort to it out of desperation.

Yeh well it was obvious that after starting with taxing children's education that they would turn to heslthcare.
It's ideological.
I just hope noone on here who says they shouldt do it, supported the Education Tax because that would be the ultimate hypocrisy.

However as Labour's biggest donors include owners of private healthcare companies I doubt it will happen.

Exactly

Same argument as education.

Similar consequence eg more people need the NHS.

Likely to cost me more for no benefit to me as the NHS is a shit show and this money won’t fix it.

Same as those parents who chose independent schools for their children. Did you support taxing of children's education?

Well charging VAT on education was the thin end of the wedge and people vicariously chucked private school parents on the bonfire of badly thought out political ideology so what's to stop them? The public have shown they have a really nasty appetite for bad things happening to people who scrimp and save to do right by their families.
The whole thing is despicable and this government is absolutely appalling. They'd sell their own grannies if it raised a bit of tax.