Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 February 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children

VHI: Chairman Designate

9:30 am

Mr. Liam Downey:

It is difficult to say what the exact impact will be. Obviously, there are also upward pressures on costs. The costs for developments in medical technology and health care generally tend to run at a much higher rate than in other sectors of the economy. We are always obliged to deal with these upward pressures. What we always try to do with measures such as those to which I refer is offset and minimise the impact of increases. It is difficult to say what the exact outcome will be in terms of the pricing of premiums. I have referred to the fact that this year we have managed to reduce the costs of some of our packages and that we have had the lowest costs in the market for the past two years. That is an illustration of how this process can bring benefits. Our objective in the future will be to continue to pay the highest attention to cost management across the board in terms of how care is delivered and contractual arrangements with providers. That is important in ensuring providers attain the highest rates of efficiency in delivering the services for which we pay. Internally, we will also focus on our own cost base - in terms of administration, etc. - in order that we might manage our business very efficiently. All of this will contribute to keeping costs at the lowest possible level, which is the best way to ensure premiums are also kept at the lowest level. At this stage, I do not know what exactly-----

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