Oncologist backs universal health insurance
08 02 08 - 12:06
Outspoken health services critic Prof John Crown has stated, at a recent Labour Party forum on health, that he is in favour of bringing in universal healthcare because it would "reconnect payment with activity."
The medical oncologist said that the system would reward hospitals that treat more patients and said the current HSE practice of allocating budgets is contributing to waiting lists as it does not reflect patient demand and need.
Prof Crown admitted introducing universal health insurance would have cost implications, but that the cost was worth it.
"Yes it would cost a little more but it would bring in badly needed efficiencies," he told IMN. "People have to make up their minds, do they want waiting lists or do they want a health system that works? None of the current alleged reforms taking place in the HSE will address the problem. I am in favour of a single-tier health service based on universal health insurance."
During the Forum, Labour health spokesperson deputy Jan O'Sullivan said the party has promoted the idea of universal health insurance since at least 2001, when it published a policy document entitled Our Good Health.
"In proposing universal health insurance, Labour is putting forward an idea that will fundamentally restructure the health service, by shifting the balance of power in favour of the patient," Deputy O'Sullivan said. "Under UHI, the money follows the patient, and the system follows the money. By re-orientating the system in favour of the patient, you generate a self-sustaining dynamic, which drives reform. It provides incentives for healthcare providers to be more efficient, and for the system as a whole to re-orientate itself in a more efficient, and also a more equitable manner.
"For Labour, UHI is attractive not just because it is fairer, but also because it provides a better quality of care to all patients," stated deputy O'Sullivan.