Almost 4,000 Northsiders forced to pay double for healthcare due to health service chaos Average household pays ?10,000 on health = ?8,500 in tax and ?1,500 on insurance Almost 4,000 people attending Northside Hospitals are being forced to pay on the double for health care by taking out private health insurance,' Fine Gael Deputy Leader and Dublin North Central TD has revealed. Even though the average household pays over €8,500 in taxation to support the health service, the creaking nature of the health system has meant that more and more people are having to pay privately for their health care when they need it. This problem is particularly bad on Dublin’s Northside: - Almost one in every three patients going to Beaumont Hospital and Temple Street Children’s Hospital are having to pay privately.
- Across the seven Northside hospitals, 53% more patients are having to pay privately than had been agreed under the designation of beds in public hospitals. This represents almost 4,000 patients. It is particularly bad in the Mater (130%) more and Beaumont (82% more).
- This phenomenon of double payment is far worse on the Northside of Dublin than in the rest of the country.
The consequence of this policy is that many people on low income are forced to take out health insurance which now typically costs €1,320 for a family. Other people struck by illness, who aren’t members of health insurance schemes, have been forced to go into debt to pay. The Credit Unions recently revealed figures showing that over €30 million in loans has been extended to help people fund private operations. In the past twelve months alone, the average household has had to come up with ?990 extra in taxes to fund the health service. Meanwhile AandE Departments are in chaos. The promised 'doctors only' card hasn't been implemented. The MRSA super bug is running amok. Meanwhile householders are now having to devote an average of ?1,500 to pay their private health bills on top of their health insurance costs. Eight years and ?7,000 million extra spent has still not been enough for this Government to put our health system on a proper footing. Please find attached details of private hospital admissions in Northside hospitals.
|
Percentage of Beds Designated Private |
Percentage of Private Admissions |
Excess of Private Admissions Over Designated |
| Beaumont |
17 |
31 |
82 |
| Clontarf |
13 |
15 |
15 |
| James Connolly |
9 |
15 |
67 |
| Mater |
10 |
23 |
130 |
| Rotunda |
29 |
34 |
17 |
| Cappagh |
9 |
14 |
56 |
| Temple Street |
19 |
31 |
63 |
| TOTAL NORTHSIDE |
15.1 |
23.0 |
52 | BACK
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