Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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1440. To ask the Minister for Health if the current practise of the Government in-patient levy on private health insurers and the new charge on private health insurers for the full cost of a public hospital bed will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37841/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Section 55 of the Health Act 1970, as amended by section 6 of the Health (Amendment) Act 1991, provides for the making available by the HSE of private in-patient service and sets out that the HSE shall charge for any services so made available and provided to any such person in accordance with charges approved of or directed by the Minister.

There are currently two charges levied on private in-patients under Section 55 of the Health Act 1970 (as amended): a maintenance charge and a daily charge. The maintenance charge ranges from €586 to €1,046 per day for private patients who are accommodated in a private designated bed. The private in-patient daily charge is €75 and is applicable to all private patients without exception.

The Health (Amendment) Act, 2013 (No. 31 of 2013), signed by the President on 24th July 2013, provides for the introduction of a single private in-patient charge for all private patients, including those accommodated in public beds. The in-patient daily charge will cease and the hospital charge for a private day-case patient will be reduced from a total of €828 to €407 in a Category 1 hospital. The daily charge for a private patient accommodated overnight in a multi-occupancy room in a category 1 hospital will be €813. Currently, the equivalent charges applied to a patient in a semi-private bed are €1,008. These provisions will come into effect from 1^st January 2014.