A PRESCRIPTION FOR CHANGE

Part 2: Universal Health and Social Care

Universal Health and Social Care

Current Expenditure: €1 billion

A Sinn Féin Government would take big bold steps towards universal health and social care. We would deliver the largest expansion of healthcare entitlements in recent decades.

In the first 100 days, Sinn Féin would legislate for free prescription medicines for all households and for full medical card entitlements for all up to the median income. We would deliver this over 5 years.

We would reduce the maximum monthly prescription costs under the Drug Payment Scheme from €80 to zero with phased reductions every year. We would abolish prescription and car parking charges by 2028.

We would legislate to deliver public healthcare for all. We would introduce a Healthcare for All Act to set out a phased expansion of entitlements to commit the State to full public health cover by 2035.

Sinn Féin’s ambition is to deliver a comprehensive national health service, fitted to the Irish context and learning from the best and the worst across Europe. The public health service would operate as the driving force in a universal healthcare ecosystem. Our vision is for a health system that is free at the point of use, with services delivered on the basis of equity and need, and which is as effective as private health insurance for getting the care you need when you need it.

Delivering universal healthcare will take time, and it will not happen without a plan. Some measures can be implemented immediately or over a short period, while others, such as universal GP care, will take time and good planning to build up capacity.

Recognising the need to expand entitlements in a planned way, we would publish a roadmap to universal healthcare. This would set out the capacity benchmarks for further expanding free access entitlements. It would set out the staging posts for reaching our goals over 10 years and involve a long-term public sector arrangement.

As part of our ambitious programme of digital transformation, we would deliver convenient access to information on and claiming health and social care entitlements through a patient app.

The cost of being sick extends beyond the upfront cost of health and social care. The cost of being sick must be further examined to ensure that our social protection and social care systems are sufficiently robust to support families experiencing financial hardship as a result of ill-health.

Sinn Féin Will:

icon_check icon Invest €1 billion in reducing the cost of health care and developing universal coverage

icon_check icon Legislate for Healthcare for All

icon_check icon Legislate within 100 days for free prescription medicines for all and the largest expansion of medical cards in decades

icon_check icon Slash the maximum monthly cost of medicines every year to deliver free prescription medicines for all households

icon_check icon Increase medical card eligibility to the median income over a term of Government

icon_check icon Abolish prescription charges for medical card holders and hospital car parking charges

icon_check icon Deliver a universal pharmacy scheme for women, including HRT and contraception

icon_check icon Set out a 10-year plan for universal healthcare developed with health and social care workers

icon_check icon End the two-tier health service and remove private healthcare from public hospitals

icon_check icon Make all health and social care benefits and entitlements easily accessible through a health app

icon_check icon Review health-related financial hardship supports