Call for ‘level playing field’ for private hospitals

Private hospitals must not be unfairly disadvantaged against State-run hospital groups in the design of universal health insurance (UHI), the Independent Hospitals’ Association of Ireland (IHAI) has warned.

A level playing pitch must apply, with guarantees of no favouritism by the State to particular health providers, the association says in a submission to the Government consultation on UHI.

“IHAI hospitals, which operate under the discipline of commercial governance, cannot take part in a UHI system without the protection of competition law and EU State Aids rules,” the submission states.

The Department of Health should draw up a policy document on competition within UHI, in order to assure all parties about how the system will apply EU rules about fairness, compliance and competition.

The association, which represents most of the State’s private hospitals, says the UHI basket of hospital care should be set at a high-quality standard, rather than at the lowest currently experienced. “UHI should entail a levelling-up of standards rather than any levelling down.”

The association says it does not believe it is possible for the “UHI scenario” to work within the framework of the current “common” consultant contract, involving four types of variation in private practice rights.

The reorganisation of public hospitals into independent not-for-profit public trusts, as part of UHI, raises key issues about the employment of consultants and their practice conditions, which require clarification before the measure is introduced, it says.

The Department of Health has received 125 submissions on the White Paper on UHI but says it won’t publish them until after a “thematic analysis” is drawn up in the coming months.