Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Private Members' motion. I am disappointed at the announcement by VHI to raise the cost of its premia from 1 February. These are substantial increases, ranging from 15% in respect of plan A to as high as 45% for plan B Options. I hope the VHI can postpone the premium increases, which will be expensive for the old and infirm. It is easy to say that one can shop around but older people are very much attached to the VHI, which has a disproportionate share of older customers. Statistics indicate that while the VHI has 62% of market share, it also has 80% of claims.

I agree with Deputy Charlie O'Connor about costs and the Minister, Deputy Mary Harney, referred to savings. The Minister also referred to the Milliman report and the work that is being done in her Department. The report showed that potential savings of 5% to 10% could be made in this area, which could be achieved regardless of the risk profile of the insured population.

Some issues have been brought to my attention by constituents, including charges for procedures irrespective of the number of days a patient spends in hospital. One constituent told me of a charge of €12,000 for a minor procedure in one day in hospital. In fact, however, the same person had another minor procedure sometime later, which also cost €12,000 although they spent a few days in hospital. There seems to be a divergence of costs involved. The costs applied to operations should be investigated.

The Minister also raised the question of reduced costs for people in group schemes. The VHI teachers' plan, which has been mentioned, is certainly good value. It is not, as the title suggests, just available to teachers. The same cover in the VHI's plan B is also provided by Aviva's Smart Plan and the Quinn company's Health Plus scheme. One of the problems with the teachers' plan is that one must take these decisions quickly before 1 February, as the renewal date could be after that, and one must obviously get out of a group scheme before one does so.

The motion referred to patients on trolleys and such difficulties have arisen due to the outbreak of swine flu and other flu-like illnesses. The recent extreme weather conditions led to much pressure in hospital emergency departments. I commend the work that is done in our hospitals to deal with the increased number of patients. Some patients have to be isolated, which places an extra burden on hospital staff.

The reconfiguration of hospitals, such as the cluster proposed for Galway and Roscommon, is important in dealing with admission procedures and overcrowding. The idea that more procedures could be done in smaller hospitals such as Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinalsoe and at Roscommon Hospital, is a positive proposal. There is no reason that the majority of procedures, or in many cases the total, should be carried out in a major regional hospital. The proposal to allocate 35% of procedures to smaller hospitals is a good one. I hope we can work on that idea by providing resources to equip smaller hospitals and provide staff so that procedures can be carried out there.

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