theBMJ:
Head to Head: Is it time for a dedicated tax to fund the NHS?
8 February 2017
A dedicated tax is the only way that we can be sure the government is reflecting public wishes, says Richard Layard, but John Appleby argues it would not protect funding from economic uncertainty
Yes—Richard Layard
Taxpayers finance the National Health Service. But how much are they willing to pay for it? No one has any idea. The service is financed from general taxation and there is thus no real way in which the public can express its wish for a better (or worse) funded service. If instead there were a specific funding stream dedicated to health, there could be a real public debate about how much people were willing to pay. And this debate would be particularly intense at the time of general elections, ensuring that our healthcare system in some way reflected the wishes of the population.