Healthcare Lessons from Down Under
30 June 2024
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In the Media
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Kristian Niemietz quoted in The Telegraph
IEA Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz has been quoted in The Daily Telegraph responding to the Reform Party’s proposal for 20% tax relief on private healthcare expenditure.
Kristian said:
“Tax relief for private health insurance is in principle the right idea, and the experience of Australia, which has had such a tax relief system for many decades, has been broadly positive. But the devil is in the details.
“If somebody opts out of aspects of NHS care, and thereby saves the taxpayer money, it is only fair for them to get a tax refund broadly equivalent to those cost savings. This could take pressure off the NHS and stimulate the growth of a competitive private healthcare sector.
“But there is also a danger of people continuing to use almost as much NHS care as before, and using private health insurance to fund additional, luxury services. In such a case, tax relief for private health insurance would mostly be an unjustifiable middle-class subsidy.”
Read the full article here.
Kristian said:
“Tax relief for private health insurance is in principle the right idea, and the experience of Australia, which has had such a tax relief system for many decades, has been broadly positive. But the devil is in the details.
“If somebody opts out of aspects of NHS care, and thereby saves the taxpayer money, it is only fair for them to get a tax refund broadly equivalent to those cost savings. This could take pressure off the NHS and stimulate the growth of a competitive private healthcare sector.
“But there is also a danger of people continuing to use almost as much NHS care as before, and using private health insurance to fund additional, luxury services. In such a case, tax relief for private health insurance would mostly be an unjustifiable middle-class subsidy.”
Read the full article here.
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