Patients using private beds in public hospitals could be charged the full economic cost of these services by 2001, the Department of Health confirmed yesterday.
Currently, the charge for the use of the 2,500 private and semi-private beds in public hospitals could be less than half the true cost, a Department spokesman said. A Department subcommittee is working on guidelines to enable hospitals to calculate the full price.
The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, announced this week that the charges for private beds would rise by 7 per cent from January as part of his policy of progress towards passing on the full economic cost.
The increase will come into effect on January 1st and will generate £6 million next year. This will be reinvested in the public hospital system.
It was unclear last night how much charges would rise if the full cost of private beds was passed on. Under the new charges, the price of a private room will vary from £183 in a health board regional hospital, voluntary or joint board teaching hospital down to £94 in a health board district hospital.
"The current charge for a private bed in some of the larger hospitals may be less than 50 per cent of the average cost," the Department spokesman said. "However, it will not be possible to say how much the full economic cost is until the draft guidelines are complete."
The BUPA Ireland managing director, Mr Martin O'Rourke, said it was unacceptable that the State should charge taxpayers using private beds in public hospitals. "The ordinary taxpayer has made those beds available out of his taxes, and any notion that he pay anything further does not stand up to scrutiny," he said.
The Department spokesman rejected this, saying the State would spend £2 billion on hospitals this year, but would receive less than £90 million for its private beds.
The VHI said the decision to hand down annual price increases without negotiation was regrettable. The VHI will spend £80 million this year on private facilities in public hospitals.