Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health if he will clarify his proposal to charge private patients for medical services provided in public hospitals (details supplied) [51463/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I think the Deputy may be speaking about the VHI's recent claim that charging private in-patients who occupy public beds in public hospitals the daily maintenance charge, would result in a 45% increase in health insurance premia.

The situation is that a system of bed designation has been in place in public hospitals since the 1990s. Under this system, most beds are either designated as public beds or private beds: there is a small number of non-designated beds, such as those in Intensive Care Units. Under the current framework, private in-patients who occupy public beds in public hospitals are not levied the daily maintenance charge, which ranges from €586 to €1,046 in most public hospitals.

The Comptroller and Auditor General reported in 2010 that 45% of in-patients treated privately by their consultants were not charged for their maintenance costs because they were not occupying designated private beds. As part of Budget 2012, I announced that I intended to bring forward legislation to provide for the charging of all private patients in public hospitals, irrespective of whether they occupied a public or a private bed. In view of the significant potential cost implications for private health insurers, I subsequently indicated that I would be prepared to postpone implementation of the legislation until 2013 provided that the funds targeted for the current year were raised through a system of improved cashflow from the private insurers. Arrangements for this improved cashflow have been agreed in principle with the insurers, and the legal details are being finalised at present.

In relation to charging all private patients in public beds, the issue will be dealt with as part of the budgetary process for 2013 and I will bring legislative proposals to Government on the matter in due course. I am committed to keeping the cost of health insurance premia as low as possible and, to this end, my Department is working closely with the four health insurers, through the Health Insurance Consultative Forum. The objective of the forum is to explore ways to minimise costs, while always respecting competition law.