Is health insurance set to become mandatory?
As we covered in our earlier article today it seems as though there is a move towards allowing patients to 'top up' their NHS treatment to pay for drugs which may not be readily available on the NHS. But is this a good move or the first step towards mandatory health insurance for everyone in the UK?
There has long been a feeling that health insurance will at some stage become mandatory for each and every person in the UK, much the same as car insurance is for those who drive on the roads. There are also similarities with the pensions industry and the encouragement which the government gives the public to seek further income for their later years, with their own personal pensions. While a personal or employer pension may not be mandatory it may as well be with the state pension having fallen in real terms for some time!
While it would take a brave government to move down this route with regards to health insurance it looks as though slowly but surely we are moving along that path. Of course they will tell the UK population it is for their own good, they will say it is well worth the premiums but really it will be used as a sledge hammer to take some of the pressure off the over stretched and underfunded NHS.
Share this..
Related stories
Political parties battle it out for moral high ground
David Cameron has stolen a march on Gordon Brown in the pursuit of parliamentary form in the wake of the MPs expenses scandal. However his blueprint for future has been dismissed by many in political circles as being too weak as the battle for the higher moral ground goes on. While the likes of Cameron and Brown battle it out to catch the attention of UK voters the constant drip feed of MPs expens...
Read MoreMortgage industry hits back at FSA
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today hit back at new mortgage regulations proposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The CML believes that around half of mortgage arrangements approved between 2005 and 2009 would not have happened under the proposed new regulations even though the vast majority of the people in question have had no difficulty keeping up with their mortgage repa...
Read MoreBeware the small print in financial agreements!
While we are starting to see a resemblance of some competition in the UK mortgage market, with many headline rates heading south, there is concern that many consumers may not check the small print. It has become evident over the last few months that, perfectly legally, many financial institutions have sought to grab the headlines and place themselves in the news by reducing headline rates and head...
Read MoreHow are so many pension schemes in deficit?
While the British Telecom final salary pension scheme is currently attracting all of the headlines, there are many more major UK pension schemes in significant deficit. As we have covered on numerous occasions, the situation has arisen because of a number of factors which include:-
The assumption that the average pensioner will live longer than first thought
A redu...
Who is next under the UK tax microscope?
Over the last few weeks we have seen a number of potential new taxes discussed in political circles which include a tax on homes with a value of £1 million and over, a telephone line tax, car park tax and yet more taxation with regards to the environment. Slowly but surely the UK government is casting its net very wide to try and bring in as much new tax income as possible by introducing indirect...
Read More