Personal health budgets to enable patients to have more control over their treatment have been announced by Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb.
The consultation launched today will gather views on how personal health budgets should be rolled out across the country.
The aim is to allow patients to access the budgets through their local NHS and work with clinicians to decide spending.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "Personal health budgets give people the freedom to plan their own care in a way that works best for them. They cover many complex conditions.
"A person with rheumatoid arthritis for example, could employ a carer on a flexible basis, allowing them to call on them for immediate care if they have a severe flare up. The help would keep them out of hospital, giving them a better quality of life."
Currently only people approved for the pilot scheme are eligible for direct payment for healthcare.
The consultation will last for eight weeks and will consider; defining entitlement to direct payments; excluded services; options for family members or friends with complex or large direct payments; and local authority ability to make direct payments for healthcare.
Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb said: "We want patients to be fully involved in their care, allowing them to make decisions with their clinicians to improve the quality of their life. Personal health budgets could help people to think outside the box in terms of treatment and how their health can be improved."
The consultation builds on the NHS Mandate - published last year - which sets out what the government expects the NHS to deliver.
