Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 February 2012
69 Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health if he will review the arrangements in place for citizens trying to access services to treat eating disorders in public and private hospitals and clinics; his views that health insurance providers should review their current arrangements for facilitating citizens who are seeking treatment for an eating disorder; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8282/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraHSE services for people with eating disorders are embedded in the Community Mental Health Service and with Primary Care. Individuals with eating disorders frequently present to the primary care practitioner with complications of their condition and early intervention at this level greatly improves outcomes. The HSE has developed a Mental Health in Primary Care accredited training programme for primary care practitioners with Dublin City University with a view to enhancing the capacity of primary care to recognise, assess and treat a range of mental illnesses, including eating disorders, within the primary care setting.
Community based Adult Mental Health Services receive referrals from Primary Care and provide assessment and treatment to individuals with eating disorders. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Teams provide a similar role for their cohort of referrals. Where the individual's psychiatric or medical needs are more acute, in-patient admission is offered within the local psychiatric services or acute medical care where necessary.
The HSE can and has worked with service providers in the independent sector to provide specialised care, on an in-patient and/or an out-patient basis. In a limited number of cases, referrals to specialised eating disorder services in Dublin or the UK can be clinically recommended and supported in appropriate circumstances, subject to the necessary resources being available.
With regard to the private health sector, minimum 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 were introduced in 1996 under Section 10 of the Health Insurance Act 1994 and cover in-patient, out-patient and day-patient services provided by publicly funded hospitals, private hospitals, registered nursing home and hospital consultants.
Health insurance providers operate in a competitive market and are free to impose certain terms and conditions in their policies, providing they comply with Minimum Benefit Regulations. My Department has no role to play in the commercial decisions of any health insurer and is therefore not in a position to direct insurers to provide cover for any particular procedure or service, such as the treatment of an eating disorder, other than those outlined in the Minimum Benefit Regulations.
It is intended that the current Minimum Benefit Regulations will be examined over the coming months as part of the overall strategy to address issues in the private health insurance market, leading in to the introduction of Universal Health Insurance.
