We need more Leos. I’ll be honest and say his Twitter spat with Dr James Grey and Tom Clonan did make me think he had gone over to the dark side and began preaching the Gospel according to Hawkins St. The messenger seemed to be finding the ire of the minister rather than advocacy on behalf of their patients and their children.
It seemed a bit petty from Leo.
This morning Leo was back to his gun slingin’ best. Universal Health Insurance ain’t happening. You kinda think he wanted to say this the minute he was thrown the ministerial seal. Instead he probably had to hide behind an ESRI report saying, 'look guys, it’s gonna take about €640 million to cover the costs and, by the way, your average family will get hit with a €2,000 per year premium.'
It was never going to fly.
Let’s not apportion blame here. That’s too easy. We all know nobody has tried to get rid of the two-tier system which ushers those with health insurance to the front of the line. Any politician who tells you otherwise is telling porkies. They are probably complicit in maintaining the system.
So am I. I love my little private insurance card. My belief in equality is sorely tested as I put my health before the greater good. If I had to advise anybody beginning their work life it would be: Get health cover.
Universal Health Insurance is dead but what of universal health? It’s going to be a hot topic in the election.
Have I answers? The Holy Grail that is the NHS in the UK is creaking under pressure. Would it be dreamed up if it didn’t exist?
Leo flew a kite a few weeks ago when he said private companies could take control of failing ‘public institutions’. The younger me would take to the barriers about that. The disabled activist in me remembers how outsourcing leads to massive empires and even bigger egos. It’s a mess. Yet part of me is thinking with strong drafting, strict rules and a strong focus on patients, I might give it a chance. Health spending is a mess. Maybe it does need radical surgery.
Leo has had the honesty to tell us an unpalatable truth. Anything we do will cost money. Remember that when you get thrown wild promises. I have no answers. All I have is my insurance. For that, I’m happy and also a little bit sad when I jump the line...
