Mr. Jim Joyce:

Questions were asked about lifetime community rating and why it was not implemented. It was considered for quite a while and the Health Insurance Authority made proposals to the Department on appropriate regulations. One of the reasons it has not been advanced is that it would be inconsistent with development towards universal health insurance, as it would not be appropriate in a universal health insurance environment. That is not to say that if lifetime community rating had been introduced some years ago, it would not have been a help, as that is certainly the case. I am explaining why if we are looking to the introduction of universal health insurance, it might not be in tune with the idea to introduce lifetime community rating at this point.