THE Minister for Health said if any cash plans put forward by the health insurers, BUPA, carried age limitations they would be unacceptable. He was responding at question time to Fianna Fail health spokesman Mr Brian Cowen, who said the cash plans BUPA advertised did not conform to community rating which the Minister claimed was a core value of the system.

"When is the Minister going to insist that those who are going to compete in the voluntary health insurance market will only be allowed to do so on a community rating basis?" The reason why BUPA promised new products was that their existing ones did not comply with the law on community rating. Mr

Noonan said he was not going "to witch-hunt them out of the market", but equally he would not tolerate any company that did not obey the law on community rating.