Leo Varadkar: Universal Health Insurance model too expensive
The Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said Universal Health Insurance will not now be introduced until at least a third term of the current Government.
Leo Varadkar was responding to analysis by the ESRI which shows that the Government's model could cost the state up to €2bn a year to run.
The average cost of the proposed scheme for an adult could be up to €2,500 per person, depending on what is included in the cover.
Minister Varadkar has said that model is simply too expensive, so other forms of insurance will have to be designed instead.
“The model studied by the ESRI will never come in…because the premiums that are proposed are far too great for any family to pay or for the Exchequer to fund if we were to go down the list of subsidies.
“But there are other models of Universal Health Insurance and they are deliverable but not deliverable in the term of the next Government, we need to do other things first.”
Senior researcher at the ESRI, Dr Maev-Ann Wren, has said a new approach is needed.
“We certainly see scope for comparing it to other ways of financing health care that might be able to meet the needs of Irish society and address issues like equity and access to care at a lower cost," she said.
“This report questions this model and we suggest other models should be looked at.”
