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Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013

Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Questions (1044)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

1044. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding health insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1261/13]

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Written answers

I think the Deputy may be speaking about the VHI's recent claim that charging private in-patients who occupy public beds in public hospitals the daily maintenance charge, would result in a 45% increase in health insurance premia.

The situation is that a system of bed designation has been in place in public hospitals since the 1990s. Under this system, most beds are either designated as public beds or private beds: there is a small number of non-designated beds, such as those in Intensive Care Units. Under the current framework, private in-patients who occupy public beds in public hospitals are not levied the daily maintenance charge, which ranges from €586 to €1,046 in most public hospitals. The Comptroller and Auditor General reported in 2010 that 45% of in-patients treated privately by their consultants were not charged for their maintenance costs because they were not occupying designated private beds.

As part of Budget 2013, it has been indicated that legislative proposals will be brought to Government that will provide for charges to be collected from private in-patients who are not occupying a private designated bed. This charge will be phased in over a number of years to mitigate the impact on the private health insurance market. It is envisaged that new charges will be implemented in mid-2013 and will yield additional €60m in 2013. In the meantime, the maintenance charges for private in-patients in public hospitals remain unchanged.

I am committed to keeping the cost of health insurance premia as low as possible and, to this end, my Department is working closely with the four health insurers, through the Health Insurance Consultative Forum. The objective of the forum is to explore ways to minimise costs, while always respecting competition law.

Question No. 1045 answered with Question No. 1028.
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