Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Similar to other non-life insurance contracts, health insurance contracts generally have a duration of 12 months and the insurer cannot alter the terms and conditions of the contract during that period. Consumer protection measures in existing private health insurance legislation provide that insurers must notify the Health Insurance Authority, HIA, of variations to existing product benefits and any new products being offered on the market.

Consumers are also protected by the minimum benefit regulations, made under the health insurance Acts, which require insurers to offer a minimum benefit to every insured person. These regulations help to ensure that consumers obtain a minimum level of health insurance cover regardless of what plan they purchase. Currently, the minimum benefits cover access to a semi-private room in a public hospital, including inpatient consultant fees, and a wide range of acute treatments. This represents the minimum level of cover that must be offered to every insured person. Where services are not provided outside the public health system, insured members will continue to have cover for those services as private patients in public hospitals. The HIA is specifically charged with ensuring compliance with the health insurance Acts. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ensures that commercial decisions about the type of cover provided by health insurers under their various plans are in compliance with Irish and European competition law.