asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of abuses of the voluntary health insurance scheme whereby beneficiaries do not pay their doctors and hospitals; and if he will take steps to eliminate such abuses.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Voluntary Health Insurance Scheme.
8.
I am aware that difficulty occasionally arises in securing payment for hospital services from patients including those insured under the voluntary health insurance scheme. I am also aware that in appropriate cases the hospital authorities take the usual steps to recover the amounts due for the services provided.
The information available to me does not, however, indicate that this situation could be described as an abuse of the voluntary health insurance scheme.
The detailed arrangements for payment of benefits under that scheme are made by the Voluntary Health Insurance Board, and the insurance cover has, since the inception of the scheme in 1957, been provided on the basis of a contract between the board and the individual subscriber.