3 ms·
One thing I've never really understood is that as well as an NI number we also have NHS numbers. Why aren't they the same thing?!
by gaius 9y ago
One thing I've never really understood is that as well as an NI number we also have NHS numbers. Why aren't they the same thing?!
- andy_ppp 9y agoBecause use of the NHS and having a national insurance number are not a 100% overlap. NI just means you paid through taxes and aren’t for example a tourist or asylum seeker.
- edent 9y agoIt's a form of decentralisation. Your doctor doesn't need to know your tax details. The tax inspector doesn't need to know your medical history.
- arianvanp 9y agoSo it _is_ used as a secret then? I'm confused.
- codeulike 9y agoIt's about as secret as your phone number I suppose. I.e. you probably won't write it on the side of your house but you will give it to lots of people. The NHS having their own number is also to do with the NHS treating people who don't have NI numbers, and various historical reasons, eg the NHS started in the 1950s and I expect it was easier to just start a new number system than persuade the treasury to wheelbarrow over all the paper.
- jackweirdy 9y agoNHS numbers are typically more secret than NI numbers (though they needn't be necessarily) and many people don't know their NHS number at all
- jackweirdy 9y agoBecause not everyone needs NHS numbers, and not everyone needs NI numbers, and neither is a subset of the other