Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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168. To ask the Minister for Health if media reports of a €3,000 average cost per adult for universal health insurance are correct; if he has received the results of the costing exercise; if he will publish same; his plans to confine any such scheme to hospital services only; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26776/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The White Paper on Universal Health Insurancewas published on 2 April 2014 and provides detailed information on the model of universal healthcare for Ireland. Under the White Paper model, everyone will be insured for a standard package of health services and will have their choice of health insurer from a mix of private health insurers and a publicly owned health insurer.

Following publication of the White Paper, a major costing exercise, involving the Department of Health, the ESRI and others, was initiated. The purpose of the exercise is to examine the cost implications of a change to a multi-payer, universal health insurance model, as proposed in the White Paper on UHI. Draft results from the initial phase of the costing exercise were presented to me at the end of May and these are now informing deliberation on next steps, including the necessity for further research and cost modelling.

Ultimately, the UHI costing exercise is a major research project with a number of phases. The next phases in the costing exercise are likely to include deeper analysis of the key issue of unmet need and a more detailed comparative analysis of the relative costs and benefits of alternative funding models using bottom-up costing techniques. The draft results from the initial phase, as well as the plans for the next phase of research, will inform discussions with the Taoiseach and the Cabinet Subcommittee on the best long-term approach to achieving universal healthcare, and on the development of a roadmap for healthcare reform.