While researching the insurance market, I discovered the two cornerstones of the health insurance market. Community rating means that all members pay the same premium, irrespective of age, sex, health or other factors. Unlike the position vis-à-vis car insurance, this has the benefit of spreading the burden across the membership. Risk equalisation is fundamentally fair and means a company that cherry-picks from a particular group – for example, the 25 years to 35 years age group – as BUPA has done in a limited way, must pay an equalisation levy to other companies which do not engage in such practices. In our case, the VHI, where the average age of members is 36 years, receives the levy.