Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We were possibly going to agree until the Minister mentioned universal health insurance and this sparked my thought process again. I can accept the rationale of some of what the Minister has said but there is a view that what we and the Minister are trying to do is to stimulate the insurance market, incentivise younger people to take out insurance for the purpose of cross-subsidising those who are in greater need of the support of health services.

5 o’clock

Even those ideologically opposed to private health insurance believe that because it exists there must be intergenerational solidarity. While we are trying to incentivise it, this will really discourage people if the loading will be with them for life. The legislation should include a clause that the penalty would wither after a certain period of time. The Minister stated the Health Insurance Authority, HIA, will assess this and make recommendations. The previous Minister for Health rejected many of the recommendations made by the HIA. While it is a statutory body charged with overseeing the private health insurance market, its recommendations can be rejected, as has happened previously. This is not much comfort with regard to ensuring a mandatory obligation for the penalty to wither after a certain period of time.

I do not know whether the regulations governing people who come to the country have been brought to the Minister's attention. They have a window of nine months during which they must register with an insurance company, and if they leave they must inform it. There is a perception that those aged 35 and over will skip in and out of the country to avoid health insurance weighting. This may have been brought to the attention of the Department, but if it has not it should be examined. It is very onerous and will cause huge administrative work. The idea people would leave the country for a certain period of time to avoid this weighting does not stack up. People will leave the country for many reasons, such as economic necessity or because they want to go on holidays or live abroad, but the idea one would leave for the purpose of avoiding the levy is completely unnecessary and will cause many administrative difficulties for the insurance companies which, as the Minister well knows, will create further red tape. Administration means higher premia for ordinary people.

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