Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Health the role he envisages for private health insurers in the provision of primary care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15397/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Minimum benefit is one of the key principles on which the Irish private health insurance regulatory system is based. Minimum Benefit Regulations, made under the Health Insurance Acts, require insurers to offer a minimum benefit to every insured person. The key purpose of the Regulations is to ensure the continued availability of the type of broad hospital cover traditionally held as a minimum by the insured population and to ensure that individuals do not significantly under-insure. The inclusion of primary care services in health insurance products is not a statutory requirement, as the primary purpose of current health insurance legislation is to provide cover for hospital treatment within an appropriate regulatory system.

This Government is committed to a single-tier health service, supported by universal health insurance (UHI), which provides equal access based on need, not ability to pay, and which delivers the best health outcomes for everyone. Under UHI, everyone will be insured for a standard package of curative services comprising primary and hospital care services, including mental health services. Health insurance will be mandatory, with a system of financial support ensuring affordability by paying or subsidising the cost of insurance premiums for all those who qualify. The system will be founded on principles of social solidarity, including financial protection, open enrolment, lifetime cover and community rating.

The introduction of UHI will see the purchasing of primary and hospital care largely devolved to insurers. Health insurers will commission care for their members from primary care providers, independent not-for-profit Hospital Trusts and private hospitals. In doing this, they will have a duty to use their purchasing role to ensure that quality, continuous care is provided at the lowest level of complexity that is safe, timely, efficient and as close to a person's home as possible. Furthermore, in line with the fundamental principle of social solidarity, neither insurers nor providers operating within the UHI system will be allowed to sell faster access to services covered by the UHI standard package of care. While it is envisaged that supplementary insurance may be purchased for items not covered by the standard package, this may not interfere with the fundamental overriding principle of access to care being based on need.

My Department is currently undertaking detailed work in relation to the preparation of a White Paper on Universal Health Insurance. This White Paper will provide further detail on the UHI model for Ireland in addition to the estimated costs and financing mechanisms associated with its introduction. The work involved is both complex and technical and demands a wide-range of specialised legal and financial expertise. My Department has recently engaged specialised legal expertise to support work in relation to the design of the UHI model and work in this area is underway.