Quote Originally Posted by KerrAvon View Post
1. How is increasing a tax rate closing a scam? If the Chancellor puts 20p on a packet of fags is that closing a scam? Increasing the tax payable for having a company car is no different.
2. In your example, patient B's decision will have no effect on patient A. It certainly won't push him backwards in the NHS queue as you asserted earlier.. But what about patient C who the Consultant sees the following day? He opts for NHS treatment and is one place further forward in the queue than he would have been had B chisen NHS. B is in an entirely separate private queue.
Forget Patient C thrown in to confuse and complicate the original question.
Where does private Patient B have his operation ? Do all private patients all go to separately built theatres with different staff ? If the private group employing the consultant are "buying" time in the NHS theatre, say 50% of the time, then Patient A will have to wait twice as long in pain, while the private one is jumping ahead of him in the shorter private queue. If there was no advantage in "going private" then why bother ?