Letter: Hoping the Lords see sense on unfair Health and Care Bill

SIR – Very important legislation concerning our NHS was debated and voted upon in parliament recently.

The Health and Care Bill that caps the cost of care as we become older and more unable to care for ourselves at £86,000 was voted in by a majority.

This bill is obviously very unfair. If you own a property that is worth millions, you will still pay the same capped amount as someone whose property is only worth £100,000.

However, you will still be expected to pay all accommodation and food costs if you need to go into a care home.

This bill will also break up our NHS and make it ‘up for grabs’ by private companies. It will introduce integrating systems that will allow companies such as the American company, Centene, to buy up the parts of our NHS which they will deem more profitable. Inevitably, this will be our general practice surgeries (many have been bought up already).

As more people who can afford it opt to pay, so they will be pushed towards private care, creating a two-tier healthcare system.

The legislation will now go to the House of Lords before returning for the final reading in parliament next year.

Our only hope is that our much-beloved NHS, which provides us all with the healthcare we need, free at the point of need, will be voted against by the House of Lords and is here for us for many years to come.

Julie Hope,
Holbury