Claims being made by the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar that Lifetime Community Rating is a step on the way to universal healthcare are basically disingenuous and bordering on the dishonest, according to Fianna Fáil Health spokesperson Billy Kelleher.
Deputy Kelleher said: “The fact is that there is no point to Lifetime Community Rating under universal or compulsory health insurance. It is only relevant in a voluntary insurance market where incentives are required to get people to sign up.
“The Minister says that
‘lifetime community rating helps to stabilise the market by encouraging people to retain health insurance once they have it’
. Again that’s fine in a voluntary market, but pointless if the Minister is serious about taking the country down the road of UHI where people would not have such an option. Is the Government serious about removing choice from the public?
“In the event of compulsory health insurance would the Minister really apply Lifetime Community Rating onto all those who did not previously have private health insurance?
“The Minister needs to come clean on UHI and Lifetime Community Rating. If he is serious about the former, it is fundamentally dishonest to promote the latter.”