Health insurance - Reform is far too slow

The cost of private health insurance has soared, outstripping inflation rates for other services.

In one spectacular jump the VHI imposed a 45% increase.

These incomprehensible figures have provoked an estimated 6,000 people to drop private cover and many thousands more to modify it. The arrival of a new insurer in the market is welcome if that manages to bring costs down. Especially as an overstretched State has to fill the gap.