The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has slammed Health Minister James Reilly's plan for universal health insurance (UHI), claiming it will not resolve inequities in our health system and could even make the system more inequitable than it alrteady is.

Launching a position paper on UHI, ICGP President Dr Tony Cox said if UHI is introduced, it will result in 'more fragmentation of health services, where patients will lose choice, control and personalised healthcare'.

Under UHI, insurance companies will purchase care on behalf of patients from hospitals and other health providers. The entire population would be insured for healthcare, with some having to pay and others having their payments subsidised or completely covered by the State, depending on income.

The College, which represents the vast majority of practising GPs in Ireland, said today that its main concern about UHI was the fact that it was an insurance-based system.

Dr Darach Ó Ciardha, ICGP Chair of Communications, said UHI, while positive in its aspiration to equalise access to healthcare, 'has the potential to do more harm than good across the Irish health system and particularly in primary care'.

In its submission, the ICGP says patients are being asked to sign up for a service which will offer limited choice and an unknown basket of services.

It says under UHI, GPs will be hamstrung in the choices of care available based on the requirements of 'profit-driven' institutions. 

The ICGP has recommended that the Government await the outcome of research being carried out by the EU into the financing of health systems, which will examine the question on the optimum financing of universal healthcare, before progressing with UHI for Ireland.

The ICGP has warned that UHI could lead to loss of control for patients over their healthcare needs, could take away medical decision-making from frontline healthcare professionals and could lead to a loss the personalised family care that GPs provide.

The College says UHI could also lead to a 'dilution of care and decision making' by profit driven insurance companies, of which there will be a limited choice of providers offering an as yet unknown basket of health cover.

It says UHI has failed to deliver in countries where it has been adopted, such as the Netherlands, and where the value of healthcare spend has not improved following its introduction.

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