Tax levy on health insurance

janullrich

Folks, I don't know which section to put this in put I have recently become unemployed. My health insurance is coming up for renewal and because the goverment is putting on 160euros on top of my bill I can't and won't pay. What do people think of it and are people the same opinion that is should be axed straight away?

trout

OP ... I can move this thread to Consumer Issues if you like ... you might get a wider response there.
I think it's a broader issue than Men's Health. Let me know.

I pay health insurance for a family of five ... so I am painfully aware of the levy. My family circumstances are such that I will have little choice but to pay up. While I can afford it this year ... it's a big cost hike and I have no doubt there are people who simply cannot afford such a hike.

I'm not discussing the merits of one insurer over another ... but I have read about this website supported by one of the Health Insurers who claim to be lobbying for the abolition of the levy ... http://www.axethelevy.com/

janullrich

Thanks if you can move it please do. I have put my name on the levy because I am so disgusted by it and Mary Harney surely the most useless minister of health ever. She is the living dead just like the PD's. I would like to hear what people think on this important issue.

trout

Moved from Men's Health - I thought this thread would reach a wider audience here.

Hope that's OK

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Fine. Don't pay it. I hope your family and yourself stay healthy.

My health insurance has increased every year for as long as I can remember and often by more than this levy. Just a fact of life at the moment. Are you refusing to pay the 1% income levy as well, as it's much higher than the health insurance one!

babaloushka

Lizbeth Large Ketchup wrote: »

Fine. Don't pay it. I hope your family and yourself stay healthy.

My health insurance has increased every year for as long as I can remember and often by more than this levy. Just a fact of life at the moment. Are you refusing to pay the 1% income levy as well, as it's much higher than the health insurance one!

This is hardly a very helpful reply The OP said that he/she has become unemployed, so what relevance is the income levy to him/her now?
Maybe we should just scrap the Consumer Issues forum and replace it with a statement telling everyone not to buy anything they can't afford and, moreover, if you have a problem with anything, just suck it up and stop moaning!

Guy:Incognito

babaloushka wrote: »

This is hardly a very helpful reply The OP said that he/she has become unemployed, so what relevance is the income levy to him/her now?
Maybe we should just scrap the Consumer Issues forum and replace it with a statement telling everyone not to buy anything they can't afford and, moreover, if you have a problem with anything, just suck it up and stop moaning!

Well it would cut out a lot of the unnessecary moaning that goes on here.

ejmaztec

janullrich wrote: »

Folks, I don't know which section to put this in put I have recently become unemployed. My health insurance is coming up for renewal and because the goverment is putting on 160euros on top of my bill I can't and won't pay. What do people think of it and are people the same opinion that is should be axed straight away?

You'd save a lot of money by applying for a medical card due to your unemployed status. Go and visit your Community Welfare Officer and grab a form.

A couple of posters on this thread won't mind one bit that some of their income tax will be going towards helping you out in this way. It may give them a warm glow inside.

BanjoSpanner

janullrich wrote: »

Folks, I don't know which section to put this in put I have recently become unemployed. My health insurance is coming up for renewal and because the goverment is putting on 160euros on top of my bill I can't and won't pay. What do people think of it and are people the same opinion that is should be axed straight away?

I'm sorry you've become unemployed, I hope you get back on your feet again soon.

About the €160 levy, which health insurance company are you with ? To the best of my knowledge VHI said they would not pass it on to the consumer but absorb it themselves.

But ultimately I agree it should never have happened. It's another stealth tax on the working classes like me, designed to protect those already rolling in the money I helped put in their pockets all those years. Very disappointing, like everything else from the Irish government these days.

janullrich

Yes Scrameen, thankfully I am fit and healthy and am not only not looking after anybody else. Banjospanner you are right. VHI said they would absorb it because they made 112m euros profit last year. Sure why couldn't they!! Agree totally with the thread that our stupid goverment is clueless. After Anglo Irish God knows what else the idiots (top is Mary Harney) are going to do. If we refuse to pay these stealth taxes rather then cooperating with the government maybe they might listen ie medical card issue. Anyway have to go on the dole this week. Lets see how the government treat me there.