Union urges State to build up VHI

The trade union Amicus, which represents 800 staff at VHI, is asking the State to provide the €100 million-plus injection required to build up the company's financial reserves by the end of next year.

The union has major concerns about Government proposals, announced this week, to reform VHI and the private health insurance market in general.

As part of these measures the Government has brought forward the deadline for VHI to meet normal solvency requirements from 2012 to the end of 2008. This will involve a significant injection of funds, estimated at €100-€200 million. There have been suggestions that these funds could be generated by a part-privatisation of the company.

Amicus national officer Jerry Shanahan said last night the union favoured VHI being converted into a commercial semi-State company.

He said the move to bring forward the deadline on VHI reserves was a Government decision. In these circumstances the State should provide the injection of funds required.

Mr Shanahan said the decision to bring forward this deadline was creating the pressure on the company.

He said Amicus had discussed its concerns about the Government's health insurance reform proposals with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) yesterday.

Ictu, he said, had not disagreed with its analysis of the situation.

Ictu is to seek an urgent meeting with the Department of Health regarding its health insurance market reform proposals.

Mr Shanahan said that under the terms of the Towards 2016 national agreement, there should have been greater consultation on the part of the Government over its plans for VHI's future.

"We are in real danger of being left by default with a purely profit-driven health insurance market, one in which the VHI's role as a cost inhibitor of medical inflation will be removed, where the cost of insurance will be set, not as the Minister thinks by competitors seeking new business, but rather by the hospital consultants and private hospitals who will have more wriggle room to set their own margins," said Mr Shanahan.