Free doctor's visits could see patients having to wait longer for GP appointments.
An ESRI study of the universal system recommended in the Sláintecare report has found that if free GP visits were introduced here between now and 2026, it would cost up to €881m.
However, it would lead to an extra 1.9 to 2.3 million GP visits and the ESRI's Dr Sheelah Connolly says there may not be a sufficient number of Doctors available to deliver them.
"Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, we had a situation where there were some places in the country where people couldn't access a GP because there was no available GPs in their area.
"What would happen if this policy were implemented is that the demand for GPs and GP visits would increase quite significantly.
"And given the current demand that is on GPs, it's not clear that there are a sufficient number of GPs currently available to meet that demand," she added.
