Call for 3% tax rise to end ‘two-tier’ health system

A HEALTH insurance scheme which provides equal access to quality care for all citizens could be implemented through the equivalent of a 3% increase in income taxes.

Proposals for radical major reform of the delivery of healthcare in Ireland to end the existing “two-tier system” will be revealed in a policy paper to be published by the Adelaide Hospital Society today.

Among its main recommendations is the establishment of a new system ofsocial health insurance which would provide guaranteed equal access to health services for all citizens.