free health care was introduced in the uk in 1911.
free health care was introduced in the uk in 1911.
when was free health care introduced in the uk?
1911
like education, there is a universal right to "health and well-being" including "medical care and necessary social services". the national health service, founded in 1946, has consistently been seen as one of the most important aspects of the uk's constitution, and goes considerably beyond international human rights standards. its founding principle, that everyone should receive health care free, as a right, is usually seen as politically "untouchable", and is consistently rated as the uk's most popular institution. however, the details of funding and governing health have been volatile and contested. the uk has among the world's highest life expectancy (82.8 years in 2015), but spends a relatively low amount of money on its service (9.7 per cent of gdp in 2016). since the health and social care act 2012 changed its governance, health care expenditure rose dramatically without visible health gains. the national health service is funded directly by the uk treasury from general taxation, which requires no citizen to buy insurance, or pay upfront costs (except for capped, and means tested prescription charges for medicines, dental and optical service in england. scotland, wales or northern ireland scrapped prescription charges). according to the nhs constitution for england art 1(2), "access to nhs services is based on clinical need, not an individual’s ability to pay". health care is a devolved matter, although all each country of the uk organised its health system after the proposals of the landmark "beveridge report" of 1942. the beveridge model of health provision, common to countries like denmark, sweden or greece, removed the requirement of contributions by workers under the national insurance act 1911. insurance systems continue in countries like france, germany, or the united states. as the uk government bears the cost of health care, and the potential to profit from people being ill is eliminated, the government has a strong incentive to improve public health with measures like the public health act 1961, the health and safety at work act 1974, or the environmental protection act 1990.
united kingdom enterprise law
health care in poland is free and is delivered through a publicly funded health care system called the narodowy fundusz zdrowia, which is free for all the citizens of poland provided they fall into the "insured" category (usually meaning that they have their health insurance paid for by their employer, or are the spouse or child of an insured person). according to article 68 of the polish constitution everyone has a right to have access to health care. citizens are granted equal access to the publicly funded healthcare system. in particular, the government is obliged to provide free health care to young children, pregnant women, disabled people and to the elderly. however, private healthcare use is very extensive in poland. patients who are uninsured have to pay the full cost of medical services. according to a study conducted by cbos in 2016, out of 84% patients taking part in survey, 40% declared use of both private and public health services, 37% use only public health care and 7% use only private health services. 77% of all responders declared using private health care is caused by long waiting for public health care services.
health care in poland