Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Minister that health insurance companies should be allowed to insist on people taking the treatment as sanctioned by the NCPE rather than spend excessive money. Senator Crown’s case does, however, infringe the basic foundations on which this area operates, open enrolment lifetime cover and community rating. In the example he gave, somebody is refused cover and is therefore sent back to the State, if I interpreted what he said correctly. Do we have a mechanism that states one is entitled under those three criteria to purchase health insurance in the market and should not be turned down because there is open enrolment lifetime cover, which covers people getting sick as they get older, and community rating charging everybody the same price? If Senator Crown has found loopholes where people are refused treatment and go back to the Exchequer for finance the amendment might assist in that regard, within the context that health insurance companies should get the best bargain. The denial of cover in Senator Crown’s example would contravene the basis on which policy in this area is supposed to operate.