UHI timetable pushed back
by Bernard Harbor
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Two senior ministers have expressed doubts over controversial Government plans to introduce universal health insurance (UHI). New health minister Leo Varadkar has said the planned date for the introduction of UHI was “too ambitious,” while incoming Tánaiste Joan Burton has urged caution over the proposal. She said the Dutch system, on which former health minister James Reilly’s plans were modelled, took years to put in place and was more expensive than expected.
Speaking on RTÉ radio earlier this month, Mr Varadkar refused to give a firm timetable for the introduction of UHI, but said it could be put in place after 2016 if Fine Gael is re-elected to government.
IMPACT is spearheading a campaign against the introduction of current UHI proposals, which the union says will create more inequality in access to health services while costing hard-pressed families far too much. IMPACT and other health unions have commissioned research into UHI and the alternatives, which will form the basis of the next stage of the campaign.
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