Universal Health Insurance: Plan could have broken laws and cost families €5,000

The Government’s long-promised universal health insurance (UHI) plan would have risked breaking laws and forced families to pay as much as €5,000 a year if it was introduced.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar

The situation was revealed in three independent reports into the now sidelined policy last night as Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Health Minister Leo Varadkar denied the Coalition has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown.

Under the 2011 programme for government, the Coalition was due to replace the existing two-tier public-private health service with universal access to all supports.