Why am I getting this strange sense of déjà vu? Could it be that the new policies on health revealed at the Tory party conference are making me feel like we’re right back in the dark days again? It’s like 1997 never happened; like we never had that sought-after Labour government… oh, but of course, we never did, really, did we? What’s doubly worrying about this “let them eat cake” style of health policy is that it could as easily come from John Reid as from Liam Fox.
It’s one of those nasty reminders of how the Tories view us collectively, looking out of the windows of Smith Square and seeing a nation full of smiling middle-class people, waiting for their chance to spend their earnings on a better class of healthcare. Here are some figures, rounded up or down to the nearest hundred pounds sterling…
Repair of hernia – 1200-2600
Hysterectomy – 5000-6000
Hip replacement – 6000-13000
With 60% of those fees paid by the government under the Tories’ proposal, you’re left with average costs to the patient of 760, 2200 and 3800. Fine for those of us on decent incomes, or in double-income households, but still (apart from maybe the hernia operation) way beyond the means of pensioners, social security claimants and low-income households in general. It’s so smugly naive, it’s scary.
Also notable is the presumptuous tone of Liam Fox… “It is not the government’s money, it is taxpayers’ money”. He’d do well to remember that, and consider whether the taxpayers might just have paid that money on the understanding that it was for a comprehensive public healthcare system.