Urgent: Appeal Campaign Title here about 10 words here

Jun 15th, 2018

NHS Funding: FAQs

By Holly Maltby

Why does the NHS need more money?

The NHS is rapidly deteriorating, with waiting times for getting treatment increasing, operations being cancelled and our hospitals under serious strain. 38 Degrees members have campaigned for years across lots of campaigns to get our NHS more money.

Experts have stated that if the NHS is going to improve, it needs a funding increase of at least 4%. You can read more about this here.

Why does there need to be a tax rise to fund the NHS?

For the NHS to get the money it needs, expert analysis says there will need to be an increase in taxes even if other measures are introduced. It means we might have to pay a little more to make sure our NHS improves, rather than continues to struggle.

You can read more about this here.

The NHS doesn't need more funding, it needs to be more efficient with money and resources

The NHS is rapidly deteriorating, with waiting times for getting treatment increasing, operations being cancelled and our hospitals under serious strain. 38 Degrees members have campaigned for years across lots of campaigns to get our NHS more money. We are not against reforms that could help the NHS take care of patients better, but the current funding gap means most services are under extreme pressures.

Experts have stated that if the NHS is going to improve, it needs a funding increase of at least 4%. You can read more about this here.

How did you come up with the tax policies to fund our NHS?

38 Degrees works better when more of us get involved, so together thousands of us voted for us to run campaign for a tax rise. Then together we voted on which tax policies that we liked the best, and now we’re focusing on getting this option in front of politicians.

You can read more on how many of us voted for each option, and what these options mean, here.

The NHS shouldn't let non-Brits use it, that's the main issue - why not campaign on that?

Research shows that while EU immigration contributes to financial pressure on the NHS, its annual impact is small compared to other factors. Also, 38 Degrees members haven’t prioritised this as a top concern when discussing how to fund our NHS.

You can read more on this here.

What about National Insurance? Isn't that for the NHS

The system has changed over the years.

National Insurance is now used to pay for:

  • The NHS
  • Unemployment benefit
  • Sickness and disability allowances
  • The state pension

NI is supposed to be “ring fenced” – meaning the money raised is only used for these areas and won’t be spent on things like building schools or employing police officers.

However, the government can borrow from the National Insurance fund to help pay for other projects.

You can read more on this here.

I think income tax is regressive because it’s a flat tax

We all have our own preferences when it comes to tax! One thing to note is that this tax will still higher earners pay a bigger proportion of tax on their salary.

I've gone through this help page and my question wasn't answered, what shall I do?

If you have a query for 38 Degrees you can reach us at emailtheteam@38degrees.org.uk

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