What's the latest in people's lives?

[Aaron]

You could get a tooth removed for 0% of that with a none private dentist
I've got to start paying for my check ups now, so I think I won't be going for about 50 years, when I'm out of uni debt.

You get free dental in the UK?

[Mikey]

Tsu - could be a disk problem, also. Find yourself a nice masseuse, get in real good with her, and start getting free massages. If that doesn't help, then it's probably not a soft-tissue problem.

[Teaos]

I hate dentists, expensive and nasty.

[Reliant121]

£75 pound for a bloody doctor?! Thats outrageous!!!!!
I could have a tooth removed for two thirds of that!

You could get a tooth removed for 0% of that with a none private dentist
I've got to start paying for my check ups now, so I think I won't be going for about 50 years, when I'm out of uni debt.

Dr. Abbasian was "Independant." But i had a healthplan where all my care was done for £35 a year. Then after i had two gaping wholes in my mouth. he charged £100 on the spot for them to be taken out.

I'm with an NHS dentist now.

[Captain Seafort]

You get free dental in the UK?

If you can find an NHS dentist, then yes. The problem is that they're scarcer than hen's teeth.

[Graham Kennedy]

No, we do NOT get "free" dental in the UK, nor do we have "free" doctors!

What we have is dentists and doctors that are paid for by taxes, which is an entirely different thing. Your dentist doesn't charge you when he treats you, but he does - indirectly - charge you every time you get your paycheque. And guess what? He charges me for your dentistry, too. Good for you, bad for me.

[Captain Seafort]

I'd argue that technically, the individual dentists and doctors are free from the point of view of the patient. It's the NHS as a whole that costs.

[Aaron]

No, we do NOT get "free" dental in the UK, nor do we have "free" doctors!

What we have is dentists and doctors that are paid for by taxes, which is an entirely different thing. Your dentist doesn't charge you when he treats you, but he does - indirectly - charge you every time you get your paycheque. And guess what? He charges me for your dentistry, too. Good for you, bad for me.

Yes, yes, yes. Same thing here. You know what I mean.

You see we don't get dental here, hence why half the population doesn't maintain their teeth. You can only afford so many 2k$ dental bills.

[IanKennedy]

No, we do NOT get "free" dental in the UK, nor do we have "free" doctors!

What we have is dentists and doctors that are paid for by taxes, which is an entirely different thing. Your dentist doesn't charge you when he treats you, but he does - indirectly - charge you every time you get your paycheque. And guess what? He charges me for your dentistry, too. Good for you, bad for me.

Yes, but the point is if you don't get paid much then it is free as you don't pay tax, or rather in this case National Insurance. In the US if you don't have the money they you don't get treated. Here you can go your entire life without a job and get free dental, free doctors, free hospitals etc. You also get a small pension.

[Graham Kennedy]

Pretty much everybody in the UK pays tax. Certainly every adult who operates in the world does, no matter how poorly paid they are. The only variation is how much tax and what type of tax you pay.

[IanKennedy]

Pretty much everybody in the UK pays tax. Certainly every adult who operates in the world does, no matter how poorly paid they are. The only variation is how much tax and what type of tax you pay.

Not really, if you earn under £5,000 a year you do not get taxed.

[Graham Kennedy]

First, damn few people earn under £5000 a year.

Second, if you do earn under £5000 a year you do not pay income tax. Do you have any idea how many other taxes there are than income tax? For starters you will pay VAT on most everything you buy.

[IanKennedy]

First, damn few people earn under £5000 a year.

Second, if you do earn under £5000 a year you do not pay income tax. Do you have any idea how many other taxes there are than income tax? For starters you will pay VAT on most everything you buy.

Nothing from VAT goes to running the health service. That is paid for by National Insurance alone. The rules for that are as follows:

- Nobody under 16 pays it
- Nobody over 65 pays it
- Nobody who earns under 5,436 per annum (actually £453/month or £105/week) pays it (ref 1).

People in all of these categories get free health care. Few does not equate to 0, currently nearly 20% of the UK population is under 16 and 16% is over 65 (ref 2), that is a minimum of 36% getting free health care. Now you may say that those over 65 will likely have paid NI at some point in their life, but that still leaves 1/5 of the population getting dental and medical completely and utterly free.

1) http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/employers/rates_and_limits.htm
2) http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?ID=949

[Tsukiyumi]

It's better than what our tax dollars go toward...

[Graham Kennedy]

Nothing from VAT goes to running the health service. That is paid for by National Insurance alone. The rules for that are as follows:

Not true. No central tax money is ring-fenced for specific purposes, no matter what the original intention was. It all goes into a common pot, and all spending is spent from that pot.

If you doubt that, consider that NHS funding has risen by almost 100% in real terms over the last ten years.



The National Insurance rate has not even come remotely close to doubling over that timeframe.