THE COST of private and semi-private beds in public hospitals will be increased by 21 per cent in next week’s budget, The Irish Times has learned. The increase is expected to raise €75 million for the health service.
The increased charges, when they come into effect next year, will have a knock-on effect on the cost of health insurance policies.
While insurance companies claim every 10 per cent increase in the cost of private beds pushes up the price of health insurance premiums by more than 3 per cent, the Department of Health uses an estimate of a 2 per cent increase in premiums for every 10 per cent rise in private costs.
The increase in private bed charges was heralded in the recently published four-year national recovery plan. It is in line with the Government’s aim of moving towards charging insurers the full economic cost of private treatment in public hospitals.
The Government currently charges insurance companies €910 a day for a private bed and €713 a day for a semi-private bed in a regional or voluntary teaching hospital. The charge in county hospitals is less.
A review group made up of representatives of the Department of Health, the Department of Finance and the HSE, which looked at ways of achieving the full economic cost of private beds in public hospitals, has recommended that instead of insurance companies being paid a daily rate, in future they should be paid for the average cost of a basket of procedures carried out on patients admitted to those beds.
The group’s value for money and policy review, to be published shortly, noted the daily bed rate took no account of whether a patient was in a private bed in a public hospital to have a minor or a major procedure.
The report also recommends breaking the link between consultants having to sign off on their treatment of private patients in public hospitals before the hospital can bill the insurer. This had led to long delays in hospitals collecting money due to them.
Under a new system, recommended in the report, hospitals and consultants would bill health insurers separately for treatment of private patients in public hospitals. Highly placed sources said the change would take two years to roll out.
Meanwhile it is unclear if there will be other increased health charges in next week’s budget. However, it is understood at this stage the charge for attending hospital emergency departments will remain unchanged as will the monthly threshold for the drugs payment scheme.
The budget will include over €100 million extra for medical cards for those who have lost jobs or are on reduced incomes.
Last month it was confirmed the health budget would be cut by €746 million next year.