Health insurance membership decline
Deputy Micheál Martin highlights falling health-insurance coverage and asks when amendment legislation will appear; the Taoiseach says it is due this session.
There is a survey in today's newspapers showing that 666,000 subscribers could drop their health insurance in the event of there being an increase in premiums of between 1% and 10%. The Health Insurance Authority has confirmed that for the first time in a decade, the number with health insurance will drop below 2 million. Government policies have been responsible for a lot of that but, strikingly, 45% of those who have dropped their health policy are aged between 18 and 32. When will the health insurance (amendment) Bill be introduced and will the Government make any interventions to prevent this haemorrhaging?
