The Minister for Health should commission a comprehensive independent feasibility study into breaking up VHI into two or more smaller entities.

The requirement for the Minister for Health to approve VHI's premium increases should eventually be removed, but price regulation by an independent regulatory body should be considered.

The phase-in period for risk equalisation payments by new health insurance companies should be extended.

VHI should be regulated in the same way as other non-life insurance companies by the financial regulator and should be obliged to comply with its consumer protection code.

VHI should be required to satisfy solvency requirements within six years and should not be exempt from EU non-life insurance directives on solvency. This timeframe should be reviewed with a view to shortening it.

Insurers should be required by law to send out renewal notices to members at least one month before the renewal date, in order to encourage switching.

Private health insurers should work with the HIA to draft a switching code of practice,

which would be designed to reduce psychological barriers among consumers to switching.

The HIA also backed the Competition Authority's recommendations for minimum benefit requirements to be introduced to protect consumers from being sold products with insufficient levels of cover.

The Minister for Health should bring forward legislation that would give the HIA more powers to force insurers to change their practices.