Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 March 2015
220. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health his views on any conflict of interests for his Department in promoting that more people take out private medical insurance as a result of the recent change to lifetime community rating; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11032/15]
View answerThe Health Act 1970 (as amended) provides for two categories of eligibility for all persons ordinarily resident in the country, i.e. full eligibility or limited eligibility for health services. Persons with full eligibility (medical card holders) are entitled to a range of services including general practitioner services, prescribed drugs and medicines, all in-patient public hospital services in public wards including consultant services, all out-patient public hospital services including consultant services, dental, ophthalmic and aural services and appliances and maternity and infant care services. People with limited eligibility (non-medical card holders) are entitled, subject to certain charges, to all in-patient public hospital services in public wards including consultant services and out-patient public hospital services including consultant services.
Separate to the public health system, my Department oversees the maintenance of a competitive and sustainable private health insurance market, under the provisions of the Health Insurance Acts 1994 to 2014, and monitors developments on an ongoing basis to ensure that the market is regulated appropriately. As the purchase of private health insurance is optional, I do not consider there to be any conflict of interest, particularly as choosing to purchase health insurance does not impinge on a person's eligibility for public health services.
In the context of private health insurance, community-rated markets depend on a continuing entry of younger people. Younger people claim less on average and, accordingly, continuing participation of younger people keeps premiums down for everybody. Lifetime Community Rating is being introduced to encourage people to take out private health insurance at a younger age, thereby helping to spread the costs of older and less healthy people across the market, helping to support affordable premiums for all.
