Orders of the Day — National Health Service Contributions Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 8 May 1957.

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Photo of Mr William Shepherd Mr William Shepherd , Cheadle 12:00, 8 May 1957

Yes, they do, and the Government pay 16 per cent. of the total contributions of insured persons. In Bolivia, a country in which one would not expect to find a service of this kind, insured persons pay 2·5 per cent. and employers pay 5·5 per cent., the Government paying a very small contribution towards the total sums expended on the service. France is a more common example. There, as hon. Members know, the insured person pays 6 per cent., the employer pays 10 per cent., and, again, the Government pay nothing at all towards the maintenance of the national health service in France. In Mexico, the Government are a little more generous and pay 50 per cent. of the contributions of both employers and employees. In the Netherlands, the Government pay nothing, and the rates of contribution by employer and employed are roughly the same. In New Zealand, there is a very high percentge of contribution, 7·5 per cent. by both employers and employed, the Government again paying only a small amount. If we look at the pattern of what is happening all over the world, we see that we are absolutely unique in maintaining a situation where the vast bulk of expenditure is, in fact, met by the Government and not by employers and employed as contributors. We ought seriously to consider whether our method is not, in fact, the least suitable, particularly in our present position.