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James Reilly announced yesterday that the stamp duty on health insurance will increase by 14% in March 2014. As a result of this increase and a tax relief cut announced in the budget, it’s expected that premiums will rise between 10% and 15% for a vast majority of customers.
CEO of GloHealth, Jim Dowdall spoke to Breakfast on the subject. You can listen back via the player below:
Business Breakfast’s Ian Guider, meanwhile, was involved in a heated debate on Twitter about the feasibility of the Government subsidising health insurance. You can read the full conversation here, and some of the responses are posted below:
@CWeston_Indo @JillKerby You could argue that if you want private health insurance then pay full and not be given any tax breaks.
— Ian Guider (@ianguider) November 13, 2013
@ianguider @CWeston_Indo Two million of us voluntarily but private cover bcuz they are afraid of public health/hospitals. Quite right too.
— Jill Kerby (@JillKerby) November 13, 2013
@ianguider @CWeston_Indo Private insurance gives speedy access to quick diagnosis, clean, efficient hospitals that €13.3bn unable to deliver
— Jill Kerby (@JillKerby) November 13, 2013
@CWeston_Indo @JillKerby I've been through it myself. My point is that if you want private healthcare why should it be subsidised.
— Ian Guider (@ianguider) November 13, 2013
Figures suggest that more and more Irish people are unable to afford private health insurance or unwilling to pay the premiums. The Irish Independent reported earlier this year that 64,000 adult and children’s policies were dropped last year. This makes for a total 238,000 people having given up their private health insurance since 2008. Many other commentators maintain private health insurance is a luxury, and the public system is capable of dealing with all patients. Others suggest the public system is reliant on the private system bearing some of the weight.
In the US, the ObamaCare or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to help ensure citizens could procure affordable health insurance. State subsidies make up part of the complex law. However, the changes have proven so controversial that disagreements over the act’s implementation were a major factor in the recent temporary government shutdown.
Do you think health insurance should be subsidised in Ireland? Is it simply a customer’s own choice, or do you think it’s more of a necessity given the state of the public health service? Do we need an Irish ObamaCare equivalent? Vote in our poll and leave your comments below.
