Icelanders Overwhelmingly Reject Private Health Care

A new poll from the Social Sciences Department of the University of Iceland shows almost all Icelanders want more money going towards public health care.

RÚV reports that the results of the survey show that 91% supported the idea of the government devoting more tax money to the support of the public health care system. Only 8% said health care funding should be cut, and 1.3% said the funding should remain the same.

This shows a rise in support for public health in Iceland – in 2006, 81.5% believed funding should be increased while 16.5% believed funding should remain the same and 2% wanted to see it reduced.

The survey comes in the wake of recent remarks from Independence Party MP Sigríður Á. Andersen, who argued in a column in Fréttablaðið that the current crisis in the health care system could be better dealt with by private firms.

“An increase in private companies in all kinds of health care doesn’t just bring with it an opportunity for doctors but also nurses and other health care workers,” she wrote. “These opportunities outside of the public sector need to increase.”

The idea has been met with heated resistance, both within and without parliament.