Quote Originally Posted by Philipvs Vallindervs Calicvla View Post
I'm a firm believer that Medical Care is one of the "big three" along with Law Enforcement, and Fire & Rescue. It should be free at the point of use. That could either mean that A: it comes direct from your taxes, or B: everybody pays for state health insurrance that does not go up if you use it and is affordably low to begin with.

After all, you wouldn't expect to have to pay the fireman to put our house out or save your child, you shouldn't have to pay a state Doctor for his services, either.
If you're storing petrol in open containers and go around the house smoking I do think you should pay for cleaning up the resulting explosion.

Similarly with healthcare. There are some risks we can't alter in our lives for certain diseases be it gender, ethnicity or other underlying genetic problem, but the vast majority we can, be it the drunk morons that come in on Friday night to the 45 year old drinker / smoker / no exercise / high fat diet for the last 30 years who'se finally had his overdue heart attack.

There are several ways of doing this. A tax on alcohol / tobacco that is ring-fenced for the healthcare, these people should pay more insurance - in the same way that if I drive a Ford Fiesta I'll pay significantly less insurance than if I choose to drive a Nissan GTR - and / or a charge for attending A&E. £5 or £10 still means about a 90% subsidy by the state assuming no treatment is required, but at least this discourages the true timewasters. If you've had an MI then £10 for over £1,000 treatment is still the bargain of the century.