Compulsory Health Insurance - Yes or No

[FutureTaoiseach]

They have this in France and it has the best health-service in the world probably.

Should we have it here? I support it. Intriguingly, this is Labour's policy. Would FG accept this idea? Clearly something new needs to be tried since throwing money at the health-service clearly isn't working.

I won't vote Labour as I prefer the PDs who are not standing in my constituency so I will vote FF to hopefully get the current government re-elected by hopefully more dependent on the PD's. I am surprised that the PD's haven't proposed this idea as it is a useful way of utilising market-forces of suypply and demand.

The hospitals treat those on health-insurance faster because they are paid money from the insurance companies. This shows the role incentives can play in skipping waiting-lists. Let's make this universal.

However, I understand that Labour's proposals remove the right of choice by simply deducting the premiums from your wages rather than letting us choose our insurer. I would like to be able to choose my supplier, as I fear that the State's traditional lack of efficiency in spending our money could lead to them not taking care to choose the cheapest package from health-insurers. Of course, if it was required that the cheapest option were chosen, this would remove this concern of mine.

[Worldbystorm]

Are you sure your choice is simply down to the cheapest package?

After all I can get a relatively cheap VHI option, but weirdly I spend a little bit more...just in case...at my age you never can tell...

[FutureTaoiseach]

Are you sure your choice is simply down to the cheapest package?

After all I can get a relatively cheap VHI option, but weirdly I spend a little bit more...just in case...at my age you never can tell...

What do you mean?

[Worldbystorm]

Are you sure your choice is simply down to the cheapest package?

After all I can get a relatively cheap VHI option, but weirdly I spend a little bit more...just in case...at my age you never can tell...

What do you mean?

If you mean that you would have the option to go for the lowest quote fair enough, but why would you want to? Presumably in that sort of set-up lowest quote would have fewer benefits etc. Or are you saying that providers would have to provide the same range of health services but these could be at different prices which you as a 'consumer' could then select? What is the logic of that?

Race to the bottom time all round.

[geraghd]

They have this in France and it has the best health-service in the world probably.

Should we have it here? I support it. Intriguingly, this is Labour's policy. Would FG accept this idea? Clearly something new needs to be tried since throwing money at the health-service clearly isn't working.

I won't vote Labour as I prefer the PDs who are not standing in my constituency so I will vote FF to hopefully get the current government re-elected by hopefully more dependent on the PD's. I am surprised that the PD's haven't proposed this idea as it is a useful way of utilising market-forces of suypply and demand.

The hospitals treat those on health-insurance faster because they are paid money from the insurance companies. This shows the role incentives can play in skipping waiting-lists. Let's make this universal.

However, I understand that Labour's proposals remove the right of choice by simply deducting the premiums from your wages rather than letting us choose our insurer. I would like to be able to choose my supplier, as I fear that the State's traditional lack of efficiency in spending our money could lead to them not taking care to choose the cheapest package from health-insurers. Of course, if it was required that the cheapest option were chosen, this would remove this concern of mine.

Seems like a good idea and I dont see anyway that FG would oppose it. There would have to be a lot more competition in the health insurance market though..

[KingKane]

They have this in France and it has the best health-service in the world probably.

Should we have it here? I support it. Intriguingly, this is Labour's policy. Would FG accept this idea? Clearly something new needs to be tried since throwing money at the health-service clearly isn't working.

FG had a similar policy regarding health insurance in '02

[hiker]

How does it work in France?

Does it replace PRSI?

I know they have it in Germany also and the health benefits and facilities are astounding but they are begining to role this back because of the ageing population and the cost to those who are left to pay into the scheme is too high.

Having said that we do have a very young and growing population in comparison so it could be beneficial to the people for a few decades at least.

If income tax were cut by another couple of percent and compulsory insurance introduced and ringfenced for that purpose only I would be in favour.

[Libero]

Health Sector Doublespeak, Lesson 413: don't say tax increase, say compulsory insurance. It's pretty simple... in the absence of tax cuts that offset the increased expense to the taxpayer, introducing compulsory insurance is just a form of increased taxation. And it's worth considering who the burden of this new imposition would fall on. The well off already have private insurance but many in the middle of the income distribution do not. Compulsory insurance with a safety net for the poor will hit the not-so-well-off and leave the wealthy as they are.

Anyway... we need to be very careful giving more power to private health insurers like BUPA and Vivas who have already been shown up by the risk-equalisation 'debate' as a shower of hard nosed extortionists. Risk equalisation would need to come in and the sector well regulated. Otherwise we would mimick the US, and I listened to economist Paul Krugman desribe at a talk last night how health insurers there busy themselves by spending lots of time and money identifying the people who most need health care and then making sure they are kept on the books of other companies.

[Ronanr]

Glad to see you survived Rita unscathed Libero.

The talk by Krugman sounds interesting. The thing I regretted most about the NY Times going pay-to-read for most of its OP-ED pages was missing out on Paul Krugman.

[Libero]

Glad to see you survived Rita unscathed Libero.

The talk by Krugman sounds interesting. The thing I regretted most about the NY Times going pay-to-read for most of its OP-ED pages was missing out on Paul Krugman.

Krugman was good fun. He was being interviewed on stage by a guy from the Wall Street Journal. Que lots of mutual digs at each other and Krugman revealing how he uses a tongs to bypass their editorial pages...