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SOCIAL PROTECTION minister Joan Burton has sought to play down a dispute with a cabinet colleague over her proposals to reform sick pay so that the State is not responsible for the first few weeks of payments.
Burton had announced plans before last year’s Budget to amend the current system – where workers can receive Illness Benefit from the state if their employer does not offer a similar scheme – in order to bring Ireland more into line with European norms.
The plan was not included in the Budget, after concerns from businesses and government backbenchers – as well as jobs minister Richard Bruton – that forcing companies to pay absent employees could threaten the viability of smaller businesses.
The IMF’s most recent staff report revisited the topic, suggesting Ireland’s arrangements exposed the government to greater liabilities than others, and appeared to back Burton’s drive to reduce the burden.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week yesterday, Burton played down the extent of any disagreement between herself and Bruton. She said:
The only winners in this debate have to be the people of Ireland, the citizens and taxpayers. It’s not a question of me and any other number of the government.
Bruton pointed to OECD data showing that Ireland was “completely out of line” in its sick pay system, summarising her proposals by saying that over time, the emphasis would be played “on wellness, rather than on sickness”.
Employees themselves would be asked to cover the costs of the the first three days of any absence caused by illness, with the employer covering the remainder of the first four weeks and the State stepping in thereafter.
“In the North, the period is six months… the periods are far longer in most countries,” Burton said.
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Waiting time for what? If you are in the Emergency Department, it is the same for public and private patients….if you are on a waiting list there is a big difference.
There is no difference between insured and not insured turning up at A&E. The difference is the waiting lists. It’s a gamble, health insurance cuts waiting time for surgery, but is it worth the money?
My question is it worth having health insurance?. My experience so far is my waiting time is practically same. What is others experience?
Mt father has severed with a heart condition for over 15 years , despite the fact he never smoked or drank in his life. He is a member of the VHI and I firmly believe he would not be alive today if he wasn’t. Though the premiums are very stiff for pensioners at the first sign of trouble he is admitted to the Bons Hospital in Cork and gets the care he needs. There is no price too high to know he is never left waiting on a bed or lying on a trolley in some draughty hall. He has worked hard all this life and it’s the very least he deserves.
if the industry is in decline, why did 2 companies join the competition for business.
Money, plain and simple. The general insurance market has annual premiums of approx €1.6 billion pa and about 13/14 main providers. Private health insurance markets annual premiums approx €2 billion and only four providers. Glohealth and Aviva are targeting the younger members of the market by not providing full orthopaedic cover on many of their plans, which does not appeal to the older (riskier) consumers out there.
That was before this came into effect see how quick they are gone when it does come in
Can I ask is there any point in having children’s private health insurance? There are no private beds in children’s hospitals are there? And if your child has a condition you can be assessed privately but you can’t go privately for treatment I think, am I right? So you just end up on a list like everyone else. I am a mum with health insurance for my children by the way.
Susan, for me it’s a question of will my child get seriously ill, yes or no? Private health insurance has no benefits over public when it comes to the normal bumps and breaks your child will have. It’s only an insurance againgts the really serious illnesses that a child may have. Now this is my only personal opinion of course :)
Also I must add that it’s no use having public hospitals that double up as private ones. My wife, who has private health care through work was left on a trolley in St. Luke’s after having surgery because there was not a bed (she supposedly was entitled to a private room!)
Yeah Steve. I’ve experienced something similar, and imagine my shock when my health insurer sends me the invoice a few months later, and I discover that the hospital have charged for private accommodation.
If you have school children and you obtain the 24 hour school insurance that also includes school holidays is it worth having a separate health insurance for them as well?? This is a regular topic of conversation in work and no one seems to know the correct answer!!
Mine is up for renewal and I am buying prize bonds from now on with the money hopefully if and when it’s needed there might be enough to cover me and also I might win a few bob being asked to pay twice for insurance and them to be levied is a disgrace
When my son was a baby he needed an mri of his brain and though we had private health cover, he had to wait 14mths on one as there are no private mris for children. I’m not sure it’s any use though I still pay it.
Oh goodness, poor little guy! From what I read / hear this is common, health insurance for kiddies doesn’t speed up the process at all and that’s worrying.
Gavan, with respect, your headline is misleading. In fact the only one of the four insurers who called today for the levy to be scrapped is GloHealth. (I watched this today, and the others didn’t ask for it to be scrapped). They called for this to be scrapped to attract younger people into the market. The levy is used to fund discounts for older and sicker people, so it’s not surprising that GloHealth want it ended. As a brand new health insurer they are likely to have very few older customers like the other insurers who have been around much longer.
GloHealth are the same people who set up Vivas Health. They are trying to push an American style of health insurance in Ireland. They lobby government intensely.
Here’s a radical way of cutting down on health insurance costs!!!! Cut the bloated payments to hospital consultants! It’s a crime that hospital consultants are earning over €500k a year between public and private work.
A lot of people are under the impression that if you go into a public bed in a public hospital there are no charges. Unless you have a medical card you will be charged for a public bed.
When health insurance was discussed on midweek a few months ago the experts opinion was in favour of people having health insurance if they dont have a medical card. She said that kids should have only the basic level of cover as there are no private childrens hospitals in ireland.
All part of the drive to price health insurance based on risk. Welcome to America.
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