VHI INCREASES NEED TO BE CHALLENGED ON AGE DISCRIMINATION GROUNDS – COWLEY
Issued : Sunday 6 February, 2011
I am calling on the Equality Authority to address the blatant discrimination against older people by VHI who have greatly increased premium payment levels for older people.
It seems to me that the VHI have greatly ‘overstepped the mark’ in deciding to impose massive increases in premiums on schemes which attract older people. In some cases this amounts to a premium hike of up to 45%. This is a blatant attempt by VHI to force their older clients to reduce or drop their health cover as they can ill afford these dramatic and unacceptable increases. The Equality Authority should investigate whether VHI is open to legal challenge on age discrimination grounds as the massive increases in premiums are on schemes that attract older people. While most family plans are going up by 15% the Plan B schemes which are most popular with older people are going up by 35- 45% from this month. Insurance policies cannot by law include additional premium weighing on age grounds, but by singling out policies mainly bought by older people VHI it seems to me is engaging in indirect and possible direct discrimination against older people. This is unacceptable to me and must be challenged.
The above situation where VHI have acted in this unfair way towards older people underlines the great need for what the Labour Party has been proposing for a decade and that’s a Public Health Insurer which would compete with VHI and the other private health insurers. In fact the Labour Party have proposed a new type of Health Service since 2001 which is called Universal Health Insurance. This means that everyone will be obliged to have health insurance which will mean free GP care and access to hospital services. Those who already have a medical card will have their health insurance automatically paid for them. Everyone else will pay their private insurance as before or this payment will be subsidized depending on their means. If people like their existing health insurer they can stick with it. This system of Universal Health Insurance proposed by Labour since 2001 means that the discriminatory two-tier health system will finally come to an end as everyone will be the same and will be treated equally. There will be only one queue, which will depend on your medical need only, not the power of your pocket. All hospitals will compete for your custom as the money follows the patient, and the more they see you and treat you, the more money they make. This will drive competition.
Fine Gael have recently taken on this Labour idea and that is to be welcomed.
The big difference between Labour’s Universal Health Insurance system and what Fine Gael is proposing is that Labour wants people to have a choice of health insurer- public and private. That way a public ‘not for profit’ insurer will compete with the private ‘for profit’ insurer – that’s most similar to the German Model – it’s Berlin. Fine Gael want private insurers -thats Boston. So its Berlin versus Boston.
Labour's plan is a way of ensuring the private health insurers don’t do what VHI has just done to older people and will keep health costs down which will benefit everyone.
ENDS Dr. Jerry Cowley. 087 2249691
