The End

How did the neoliberals sell the citizen the concept of private health insurance? It is for me the biggest trick of all. I know deep down how it worked. It was because the people were frightened. If people are frightened like sheep they will run off the cliff. You see if you underfund something and make it damned uncomfortable for folk, they will be be fearful of it. Create long waiting lists poor facilities and wards that are crowded. That is how it is done.

Once you have private health insurance then you get private hospitals of course. Once again this serves the frightened. Irish society has been divided since the foundation of the state. We have a small underclass, and a large working class. In modern times we have a growing middle-class. This in reality is manufactured or should I say was manufactured by lending and access to credit. There are of course other factors also such as citizens investing in education.

Yet as the state evolved so did its divisions. Thus the concept of private medicine. Basically a state that operates a two tiered health service is admitting that it has ideologically failed its citizens. The government is refusing ideologically to treat it citizens on an equitable basis. To do this the state would have to demand much higher income tax, and divide the premium to care for its people. But the ideological choice was to create mayhem in the public health service, whilst the private sector prospered.

Even now mid-recession the advertisments for private health cover are prevelant. We have stupid and poorly conceived adverts telling us that without VHI or Laya healthcare you are screwed if you get ill. Often these adverts are targeted towards young mothers with small children. The message is clear if you dont have a good plan you are not a good Mum?

Recently I had cause to visit one of our flagship private Dublin hospitals with an elderly relative. I was amazed, this place was like a hotel. Beautifully done airy with lots of space. The wards were super modern and the nursing staff friendly and efficent. I commented on this to a good friend whom has worked at the coalface in the public system for over twenty five years. He told me that the public system was ready to burst at the seams. There is a permanent shortage of beds, and of nursing staff and supporting care workers.

I reflected on my observation that the private sector was awash with nurses who appeared to have alot of time on their hands. The system was peaceful and calm. So how did this happen. Why is the state funded system in such disarray? Most consultants work between the two systems, so the level of patient care is not in question. What is questionable however is the privacy and comfort of patients. Also the length of time it takes to get a diagnosis through the public system.

There is something rotten with an ideology that divides its citizens on the grounds of ability to pay. It makes a mockery of the idea of citizenism and statehood. This particular private hospital is a shrine to neoliberalism and the middle-class greed and fear as induced by the celtic tiger.
I await the citizens roar to disturb what is a very silent place.