Taxes and health care funding: how does the UK compare?

Taxes and health care funding: how does the UK compare? The government’s decision to raise taxes to better fund health and social care has understandably generated a lot of interest. For many, this is a much-needed increase that will help meet some of the care needs of people in the UK after the pandemic. For others, the NHS is a ‘black hole’, swallowing increasing sums of taxpayer money.

These arguments raise several important questions. In particular, do we spend enough – or too much – on health and social care? And is it reasonable to raise taxes to fund increased spending? While the answers to these questions will ultimately be decided by the public, it is important to consider how the UK compares to other countries on health care spending and tax revenue. The Health Foundation