Lord Kinnock is calling for the government to remove the exemption on VAT on private healthcare, while calls have also been made to introduce a windfall tax on these services.
The former Labour leader issued his call earlier this week alongside research from the Good Growth Foundation which showed majority public support for a windfall tax on private healthcare.
Notably, more than 40% of respondents also supported a general tax on private healthcare.
There was also very limited support for insurance to be involved in delivering public healthcare, one third supporting a mixed-model with just 7% wanting a fully insured system.
The polling from the think tank indicated strong public support for targeted taxation of the private sector to fund NHS reform.
The survey of 2,054 UK adults found:
- 43% supported a general tax on private healthcare, including 15% who strongly support it,
- 55% supported a windfall tax on private healthcare companies, including 25% who strongly support it while only 17% opposed the idea,
- 39% opposed charging NHS patients who can afford to pay but 37% supported such a move,
- 59% agreed that “the NHS needs more investment, and it also needs to change to become more modern and efficient” – compared to 17% who said it does not need more money, and just needed to change to become more modern and efficient,
- 55% said they supported the NHS being free at the point of use and funded through taxation – while 33% supported a mixed, insurance-based model, 7% favoured a fully private, insurance-led system,
- 80% of the public believed the NHS “needs to change in order to survive”,
- 71% were worried they would have to pay for NHS services in the future, and only one in five (20%) believed the NHS would remain universally free,
- 51% said access challenges like GP wait times stopped them from seeking help when they needed it,
- The biggest challenges identified by the public included staff shortages (50%), long waiting lists (50%), and underfunding (47%).
Unequal access to care
Lord Kinnock said: “Introducing VAT on private health provision could provide vital funding for the NHS and social care.
“After 14 years of underinvestment, many people are turning to private healthcare not out of choice, but because they cannot afford to wait. This has increasingly led to unequal access to care.
“Ending the VAT exemption to generate much-needed revenue is a reasonable and widely supported step.”
Two-tier healthcare system
Praful Nargund, director at the Good Growth Foundation, added: “We have sleepwalked into a two-tier healthcare system, and we have to back the NHS.
“It is in a dire state: from 8am GP scrambles to months-long waiting lists. It’s simply not good enough.
“People are being forced to go private for care they should get for free. That’s not a system in need of tweaks, that’s a system on the brink and in need of major reform.
“A windfall tax on private healthcare would be a bold, fair first step to fund an NHS the British public deserve.”