Madam, – The recent announcement of a 50 cent per item charge on prescriptions struck me as quite a cumbersome method of exacting tax.
Surely an easier method would be to place a monthly levy on the various illnesses about which people complain. For example MS sufferers could be levied €10 per month, Parkinson’s sufferers €9, motor neuron €8, Friedreich’s ataxia €7, arthritis €6 and an across the board levy of €5 on every other illness from migraine to the common cold. We could offer a 5 per cent discount to those who arrange to pay the monthly levy by direct debit.
Hopefully this streamlined method would serve to increase the amount of revenue collected and, as our Minister for Health Mary Harney hopes, would stop doctors being so liberal in the number of medicines they prescribe to help sick people to get better and slow down the number of those seeking formal diagnosis of their complaint.
This could save us billions in the long run and we would be far healthier!! – Yours, etc,