Press Release
Apr, 08
Launch of Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland “There is an alternative to present crisis and cut-backs in Irish healthcare”

Launch of Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland Report by The Adelaide Hospital Society on Wednesday, 16th April 2008 at Buswell’s Hotel, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2 at. 1.30 p.m.

There is an alternative to present crisis and cut-backs in Irish healthcare

“There is an alternative to the present crisis management and current cut-backs in our health system” stated Dr. Fergus O’Ferrall, Director of The Adelaide Hospital Society at the launch of a major Report Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland published by the Society. “A comprehensive social health insurance system, which the Report clearly demonstrates is practical, feasible and affordable, would ensure equal access to medical care for every citizen based upon medical need not financial means” he added.

The Report establishes that a carefully designed comprehensive Social Health Insurance (SHI) system in the Irish context would provide for all citizens

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free primary care consultations and prescriptions at the point of need
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timely access to hospital consultants, upgrading access to healthcare services for the worse off people to that of the best off people

This would involve health expenditure as a proportion of GDP rising from 7.5% to 8.9% or an increase of €2billion in running costs. This would still leave Irish healthcare spending comparatively low in European terms. The great prize of proper healthcare for all and the ending of the ‘two-tier’ system (which results in such pain and even death forpublic patients as the Susie Long case demonstrated so clearly) surely requires a national commitment to these necessary financial resources.

Given that SHI involves a protected healthcare fund or funds in place of funding healthcare through general taxation, the evidence is that Irish people would be prepared to support the increase required as they would know that their healthcare payments would be dedicated to healthcare.

The Report sets out various options with the associated costs as stages towards a fully comprehensive social health insurance system. For example, full medical cards for all children (under 19) would cost only an additional €160million or an increase of just over 2% in real terms on current healthcare funding. Full medical cards for all the population would cost only an additional €217million.

Social Health Insurance: Further Options for Ireland describes in detail the capacity constraints which will have to be met in the Irish health system in the period up to 2020 (whether SHI is introduced or not):

· Ireland has relatively few primary care providers in comparison to other European Union countries at 52 GPs per 100,000 population (France has 164, Austria 144, Germany 102 per 100,000)

· Ireland has a very low number of acute beds per head of the population at 2.9 per 1000 (the EU average is 4 per 1000, France has 3.9, Austria 6.1, Germany 6.6, UK 3.7 per 1000)

· Ireland has 1.55 hospital doctors per 1000 (compared to EU average of 2 per 1000)

There is a need for a health investment programme which the Adelaide Hospital Society suggests be called ‘Health 21′ to meet current and future capacity constraints in the period up to 2020 involving estimates between €3.2billion and reaching up to €6.4billion depending upon assumptions made. A similar national commitment to that of Transport 21 (which involves over €30billion) is required in Health 21. Surely the healthcare of our people is as important as transport.

The Adelaide Hospital Society advocates that the reform of the Irish health system be built around the concept of social solidarity which means that each citizen contributes to the overall burden of healthcare according to their means and that each citizen accesses healthcare according to their need. This is the European social model which underpins the most successful European health systems in terms of health outcomes and cost. The principles of equity, universality, solidarity and quality are the agreed common values and principles of the European Council (see EU council Conclusions on Common Values and Principles in European Union Health Systems June, 2006)

ENDS

Further details:

Dr Fergus O’Ferrall

Director, The Adelaide Hospital Society

Tel: (01) 4142072 Mobile: 086 2382103

[via]

Seán McCárthaigh, Irish Examiner