BUPA Ireland has called for the Risk Equalisation Scheme (RES), by which it would pay the VHI up to £2 million as a new market entrant, to be scrapped and replaced by a Bill of Rights for private medical insurance holders.
BUPA chairwoman, Dr Margaret Downes, said RES, which included a series of regulations to prevent "cherry-picking" of consumers, was a barrier to competition, bad for cost containment and contrary to EU law. The VHI said the call for scrapping RES was a "blatant attempt by BUPA to dismantle Ireland's Community Rated system of private health insurance".
BUPA has been partially supported by the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) which has argued that RES should be deferred for at least five years to allow the Britain-based company gain a foothold in Ireland. But Mr Aidan Walsh, VHI's acting chief executive, said that community rating and risk equalisation went hand in hand. "BUPA wants to insure only the young, healthy people and to retain the profits associated with doing this," he said.
BUPA said it welcomed people of all ages from the VHI to its products.
Dr Downes, who was speaking at the Marketing Institute's national marketing conference, added that a bill of rights should provide people with information on their entitlements.
