Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 76: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the rationale in deciding that 100 days is the minimum health insurance cover for private psychiatric hospitals. [19442/07]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to review the minimum psychiatric cover for health insurance. [19443/07]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on the recommendation of the Competition Authority that the minimum health insurance cover for psychiatric in hospital treatment be modernised to offer limited cover plans to suit individual circumstances. [19444/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 to 78, inclusive, together.

Under the Minimum Benefit Regulations all insurance products that provide cover for in-patient hospital treatment must provide a certain minimum level of benefits. The 1999 Government White Paper on Health Insurance stated that the purpose of the Minimum Benefit Regulations is: to maintain inter-generational solidarity within the community rating system; to ensure the continued availability of the type of broad hospital care cover traditionally held as a minimum by the insured population; and to ensure that individuals do not significantly under-insure due to lack of proper understanding of the restrictions which, in the absence of a specified minimum entitlement, could apply to some types of policies.

The minimum benefit regulations, having regard to psychiatric in-patient treatment, provide that all private health insurers must pay benefit for a minimum of 100 days treatment per annum. The provision of a statutory guarantee of indemnity benefit for not less than 100 in-patient days represents insurance cover in excess of the three-month period within which 92 per cent of discharges in the four Health Services Executive areas occur.

The Competition Authority stated in its report on the Private Health Insurance Market that if limited cover plans are found to be feasible and compliant with the relevant legislation and community rating then the Minimum Benefit Regulations should be amended to give the Health Insurance Authority responsibility for approving limited-cover plans proposed by health insurers. However, the Competition Authority went on to state that the key criterion for any such approval should be whether any such products could undermine community rating in the market.

Having regard to proposals in the recent reports on the Private Health Insurance Market, I have asked the Health Insurance Authority to consult with stakeholders on defining the level of private health insurance cover which should be subject to community rating.