Slowther, Anne. (2008) Co-payment for medical treatment. Clinical Ethics, Vol.3 (No.4). pp. 168-170. ISSN 1477-7509

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Abstract

In 2004, the then Minister of State for Health in the UK, John Hutton, stated: ‘We strongly believe that the introduction of vouchers, passports, co-payment, or extra charges to patients will have a regressive impact on the health of our people – as all of the international evidence confirms. That is why a patient's passport to personal health should not be dependent on a patient's personal wealth.’1 This unequivocal position now appears to be less secure in 2008 due to a number of factors including: The continued increase in the number of innovative (but expensive) treatments available in the health-care market; Several high-profile challenges to decisions by the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) with regard to funding for new treatments, for example drugs for Alzheimer's disease and certain forms of cancer;2,3 Specific case reports precipitating a public debate about the permissibility of patients paying for treatments not funded by the National Health Service (NHS) as part of their NHS care.4 The specific issue of co-payment for drugs not funded by the NHS is now the subject of a Government-commissioned review of policy in this area, chaired by Professor Mike Richards and expected to report in October 2008. The ethical dilemmas raised by requests from patients to be able to pay for a treatment currently not funded by the NHS but which the patient and clinician consider a desirable treatment option have been discussed previously in this journal and elsewhere.5,6 It is also a problem that is brought to clinical ethics committees and one which challenges us to reflect on the core values of the NHS. In this FMF we will consider the ethical values and arguments underpinning the debate.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School > Institute of Clinical Education (ICE) Faculty of Medicine > Warwick Medical School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Medical economics -- Great Britain, Medical care, Cost of -- Great Britain, Medical care -- Finance -- Great Britain, Great Britain. National Health Service -- Finance
Journal or Publication Title:	Clinical Ethics
Publisher:	Royal Society of Medicine Press Ltd.
ISSN:	1477-7509
Date:	December 2008
Volume:	Vol.3
Number:	No.4
Page Range:	pp. 168-170
Identification Number:	10.1258/ce.2008.008039
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/37315

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