The pandemic has shown how interconnected and interdependent public health and economic health are. With our society facing further seismic public health issues, namely an ageing population and the health impacts of a heating climate, the case for prioritising wellbeing – including through the provision of universal healthcare – has never been stronger.
This is why I voted against the Tory’s health and care bill – which would be more accurately named the corporate takeover bill. These reforms will usher in a huge transfer of decision-making power to private companies and democratically unaccountable third parties through innocuous-sounding “Integrated Care Systems”, which will not guarantee my constituent’s right to access the healthcare they need, when they need it.
Some readers may be thinking, what’s the problem with private companies providing healthcare? For starters, this model has already been used in the US for years as a way to reduce Medicaid spending by rationing access to expensive forms of care. It will likely lead to more and more services – community care, mental health, physiotherapy – being pushed out of the NHS, where they are currently free to everyone who needs them.
This story is from the November 24, 2021 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the November 24, 2021 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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