Public-focused system will have repercussions for private patients

I AM one of the VHI’s 1.57 million subscribers. The cost of my membership is €871.04 this year. Because I pay private health insurance (PHI) I enjoy certain perks.

I have, in the past, had speedier access to specialists than some of my public-patient colleagues. I have had a private hospital room.

I would prefer not to have to pay PHI, but in a country where I have witnessed a sluggish and understaffed hospital system let the public patient down, I have opted to pay for the reassurance of “going private”.