London (Parliament News) – Reform UK proposes a 20% tax relief on private healthcare costs to alleviate strain on the NHS, advocating for expanded independent sector use amid concerns over healthcare effectiveness and political strategy.
People should be offered a tax incentive to utilise private health care to permanently “ease the pressure” on the NHS, states Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
How Can NHS Pressure Be Eased Permanently?
Reform is due to disclose its finalised manifesto on Monday, when it will submit proposals for tax relief of 20 per cent on all private health care and insurance. Richard Tice, the Reform chairman, said: “The NHS and health care in the UK is no extended fit for purpose. We have had a complete population explosion, we are paying way more on health care and yet the outcomes sadly are amongst the lowest in the Western world.”
He said: “We have got to reform the way health care is done. We have spoken before about the need to use millions more independent sector functions, even the Labour Party was starting to agree with me on that.
“And actually what we have also got to do is, for instance, if you can afford to pay a bit more we should enable you to pay a bit more by offering you a tax incentive to use the independent sector, much of which is not for profit, to ease the stress permanently on the NHS.”
Will Tax Breaks Enhance Independent Healthcare Capacity?
Reform contends that such a tax break would also allow independent healthcare capacity to grow rapidly, providing competition and lowering costs. Companies would also be enabled to offer staff health insurance so that it evolved standard. The party claims that Labour would instead add VAT on separate health care, which would make the NHS worse off.
Although senior Labour MPs, including Sir Keir Starmer, have stated that they would not use private health care, Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has stated that a Labour government would utilise the private sector to help cut the NHS care backlog.
What Are Reform UK’s Solutions for NHS Strain?
Reform has also offered to lift the thresholds for income and inheritance tax, charge a freeze on immigration and introduce a migrant tax that would cause employers to pay a higher National Insurance rate of 20 per cent for every foreign employee they employed. Their manifesto comes days after a YouGov poll conducted by Reform had overtaken the Tories for the first time, with the parties on 19 per cent and 18 per cent respectively. Labour was in first standing at 37 per cent.
Rishi Sunak was questioned about the survey while at the G7 summit in Puglia, Italy, and he stated that a vote for Reform would only boost Sir Keir’s probability of securing the keys to No 10. He stated: “Ultimately, if you’re not going to vote for a Conservative candidate that makes it more likely that Keir Starmer is in No 10.”