People should have control over how NHS money is spent, say insurers
The future of healthcare funding in the UK could lie in the Government replacing the NHS with a voucher system, allowing people to purchase their own healthcare.
Representatives of two major insurers proposed the solution at the latest Think Tank.
Dr Adrian Bull, medical director at AXA PPP healthcare and Mike Hall, chief executive at Standard Life, said the Government should give people healthcare vouchers to allow them to purchase their own care ' or private medical insurance (PMI) ' and top up vouchers if they choose to get more expensive treatment.
Bull said with current waiting lists on the NHS, people should be given a choice about how to fund their own healthcare.
'I think one of the most important aspects is for people to have control over how they spend their money. If we assume tax is going to be a means of collecting a part of the money that is spent on health, then there is a way to allow individuals to take control of how it is spent on their behalf ' involving some sort of voucher system. You could say it costs £1,500 a year per person in this country to provide healthcare, so here's £1,500 ' now you go and place it with an insurer of your choice and they will provide your healthcare for you.
'The alternative is to say this is how much the NHS will pay for you to have this operation, so here's a voucher for that, and if you want to go somewhere else which charges more then you are perfectly entitled to do that ' the NHS will pay X thousand pounds towards it.'
Hall backed Bull's proposal, saying it would add value to PMI.
'We need to start with a dialogue between the Government and the private sector because there is no point in us innovating products if everybody keeps paying twice for healthcare,' he said.
'We need to cut out duplication ' there needs to be a mixture of public funding and private funding to give people choice. I want somebody to say 'there are lots of different ways of paying for healthcare and here is your NHS voucher to top it up with.' The Government has to be willing to talk about how to work with the private sector to make it happen ' if you have one without the other the whole thing falls apart,' he said.
Bull was confident the voucher system could come into force in the near future.
'This is where the UK is closest to going and might go even under this Government,' he added.
