[user104658]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Isn't American health insurance slightly cheaper than National Insurance, on average? If NI were slashed it might be worth it.

1) There are almost always costs above and beyond insurance. Insurance adjustments SHOULD stop a random average hospital stay for, let's say, some broken bones costing tens-of-thousands (which is what the bill will be) but usually you'll still be left with a bill of, say $600 at the end.

2) If you're unlucky enough to develop cancer or something you're ****ed. Unlike Universal Healthcare - insurance runs out. If you get a chronic illness in the US you are very, very likely to end up bankrupt unless you're literally a millionaire.

3) N.I. scales with income so people on low incomes don't pay huge sums. In the US if you can only afford very basic health insurance, you're only going to get very basic care. For the wealthy, a very high level of coverage might only cost the same as their current N.I. but for everyone else, no.

4) All of this is moot. They're not going to slash N.I. even if the NHS was completely dismantled because the NHS is tax funded. N.I. contributions are essentially "employment insurance" - they pay contributions-based out of work benefits and pensions. The pensions pot is already dry... they literally cannot cut NI at all.

5) They could in theory take the money saved out of income tax and slash those tax rates, but it's HIGHLY unlikely that they'll ever cut the 20% rate, so again a disproportionate gain for the wealthy in the 40%+ bracket.