Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 January 2012
219 Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if current legislation prevents private health insurance providers removing themselves from using public sector hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4617/12]
View answerMinimum benefit is one of the key principles on which the Irish private health insurance regulatory system is based. Minimum Benefit Regulations, made under the Health Insurance Acts, require insurers to offer a minimum benefit to every insured person. The key purpose of the Regulations is to ensure the continued availability of the type of broad hospital cover traditionally held as a minimum by the insured population and to ensure that individuals do not significantly under-insure. Minimum Benefit Regulations help to ensure that consumers obtain a minimum level of health insurance cover regardless of what plan they purchase. Minimum Benefit Regulations were introduced in 1996, under Section 10 of the Health Insurance Act 1994. The Regulations cover in-patient, out-patient and day-patient services provided by publicly funded hospitals, private hospitals, registered nursing home and hospital consultants.
At present, the minimum benefits cover access to a semi-private room in a public hospital, including in-patient consultant fees, and cover a wide range of acute treatments, and this represents the minimum level of cover that must be offered to every insured person. The current regulations will be examined as part of the overall strategy to address issues in the private health insurance market, leading in to the introduction of Universal Health Insurance.
