Why private alternatives to the NHS are so much more expensive
Cam Donaldson, Glasgow Caledonian University The NHS has survived to the age of 70 and now costs the UK just over £120 billion per annum. Many advanced economies spend even more on healthcare per head of population. Why do fully paid-up capitalist nations persist with this Stalinist approach to healthcare? Instinctively we might cite humanitarian and political reasons. But is this enough? Arguably access to food is a more fundamental human right, yet we don’t have a National Food Service. Governments do intervene in food markets, providing social security to poorer people to feed themselves – and we can debate whether it’s adequate . Generally, however, food is left to the market. In contrast, healthcare spending comes mainly from the public purse – see below. Total health expenditure/state-funding Figures based on purchasing power parity, a form of currency conversion to help compare countries. Figures include all ...