Reilly delays universal health insurance paper
Dr Reilly, who said the white paper would not be published for at least a few weeks, insisted he was concerned as anyone else about cost containment under universal health insurance.
The system will provide equal access to care for all, based on need rather than the ability to pay, but it is not yet clear how it will be paid for.
The minister said he wanted to ensure that the model developed controlled costs and action was already being taken to ensure that happened.
Dr Reilly said the national pricing office was being set up on an administrative basis and ‘money follow the patient’ was being piloted.
“These are just two of the building blocks that will help us towards this more affordable and fairer health service that we all seek,” he said.
The minister also said the VHI now had a cost containment committee and that some tests conducted by hospital consultants would be challenged.
If tests were considered unnecessary, consultants or hospitals would not be paid by the insurer but patients would not be left to foot the bill.
During an RTÉ interview Dr Reilly said the cost of procedures would be benchmarked against other countries. He pointed out that the cost of a hip replacement or stroke care in Ireland was double what it was in other countries.
The minister said the HSE had been instructed to establish a website so the public and doctors could get information on waiting lists by speciality for each consultant.
Dr Reilly, who has been Minister for Health for three years, said the Government wanted to introduce free GP care for children under six by June or July, as promised.
There could be negotiation and consultation, but he would be setting the fees to be paid.
The minister accepted that GPs had “reasonable” concerns about the draft contract and should be changed.
Dr Reilly also said that, as far as he knew, there had been no termination of pregnancy yet under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy legislation.
