In the three year transition period which terminates at end February 1995, and follows from the revision of eligibility arrangements in 1991, my Department has centrally agreed with the VHI Board a level of total reimbursement for public health agencies in respect of all VHI subscribers availing of private facilities in public hospitals. This global figure has been allocated among the individual agencies concerned by my Department having regard to their income generation potential. As the basis on which the system has operated was communicated to agencies at the outset the issue of any further reimbursement from the Exchequer does not arise.
In the context of my Department's new regulatory role in the operation of the EU Single Market in health insurance it is no longer possible to continue this centralised system with one insurer. Consequently, it is likely that future reimbursement arrangements between VHI, or any other insurer, and the public agencies will be the subject of directly negotiated agreements between the parties concerned.