I am talking about welfare not healthcare - different budgets.

If you think National Insurance pays for those directly (it doesn't), you're the reason we've been fooled into paying a second income tax.

Umm, no NI is not hypothecated.

Welfare and healthcare are run by different govt departments.

They still are paid from the same source though.

A large pot of general taxation, yes. That is how it works in the UK. Arguably NI should be a wholly separate system that only funds the NHS and state pensions, and be run as a real insurance system, but it's not and converting it is next to impossible.

But my point stands: I'm not including the NHS budget in mine, for this.