FF Dismiss Healthcare Promise As 'Sheer Hypocrisy'

A promise by Health Minister Leo Varadkar to reduce family medical costs has been described as "sheer hypocrisy", by Fianna Fáil Health Spokesperson Billy Kelleher.

Mr Kelleher criticised Mr Varadkar by highlighting Fine Gael's record of "supporting privatisation" of healthcare and "driving up costs for families".

According to Fianna Fáil, 'out of pocket' health expenditure has risen to €4bn, in addition to over €13.7bn in expenditure by the HSE funded from taxation. This is based on Parliamentary replies from the Department of Health as well as information published by the HSE and covers everything from prescription medications to GP visits, private medical insurance and nursing home care.

"Under the disastrous policies pursued by Minister Varadkar and Reilly out of pocket health costs now represents an average of €3,000 per household with many families spending substantially more. As a result Ireland is spending considerably more per capita on healthcare than most European countries despite our relatively young population," Deputy Kelleher said.

"Policy decisions by the government have driven up the cost of healthcare for families. These include changes to tax relief on private medical insurance, a 200% increase in prescription charges and higher charges for in-patient treatment. The threshold for the state drugs repayment scheme has been increased from €132 a month to €144. As a result medical inflation has massively outstripped general price rises in recent years. That is Fine Gael's legacy on healthcare."

(MH/LM)