Financing health care for all--is national health insurance the first step?

Political changes are likely to lead to demands for a more equitable health care system. It will be necessary to pay for more health care for more people without a substantial increase in the resources available. If a substantial proportion of the funds continue to come from private sources, then inequity in access to and the distribution of health care is inevitable. Consequently, it is argued that this can best be achieved if the resources that are available to pay for health care are controlled by a single, centralised co-ordinating body. It is suggested that it will be more feasible to generate sufficient funds under central control through taxation supplemented by a national health insurance scheme, rather than through simply expanding the contribution to health care that comes out of general tax revenue. Given that private ownership of health care facilities and services is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, central control of the funding of health care will make it possible to regulate the private sector, and bring it into a national health plan to provide health care for all.