Assess the economic arguments in favour of opening the NHS to a less centralised and more free market form of funding (12 marks)
A free market funded health service would undoubtedly reduce pressure on the already crumbling NHS. This free market incentive (allow people to decide to receive government-subsidised private health care at a little cost to themselves). This option would obviously be available to those who can afford it and some people believe that it would be unfair on those who can't, to provide better health care to the rich. However, people who uphold this arguement are met with the fact that releasing pressure on the NHS would provide better services for those who do receive government health care.
This system could help cut waiting times for operations altho encouraging people to recieve private health care when the NHS offers it for free would be a hard initiative in its self.
In the current system, older people are frequently refused treatment so that treatment can be given to people who will make better use of it and are more likely to recover. In a less centralised, more free market based health service, there would be more capacity for treatment and so a wider demographic can be offered medical assistance.
A major problem with a privatised health service would be that the health service can up prices after the government has become dependant on them. This would force greater public expenditure on subsidisation of medical bills and would take money away from the NHS anyway.