| Type | Statutory Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 12 February 1957 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland |
| Key people | Bernard Collins, Chairman Jimmy Tolan, Chief Executive Officer |
| Products | Health, dental, and travel insurance |
| Revenue | €802 million EUR (2004) |
| Employees | 800 (2005) |
| Website | www.vhi.ie |
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board (An Bord Árachais Sláinte Shaorálaigh in Irish) — which trades under the brand name Vhi Healthcare, and is still commonly referred to in Ireland as "The VHI" - is the largest health insurance company in the Republic of Ireland. It is a statutory corporation whose members are appointed by the Minister for Health and Children. It is regulated by the Health Insurance Authority.
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Vhi Healthcare offers a number of health insurance products, including its five hospital plans (Plans A to E). It has also recently expanded into dental and travel insurance. Vhi Healthcare claims to have 1.55 million members which represents 40% of the population or 80% of the private health insurance market while the Health Insurance Authority's 2003 report into the health insurance market in the Republic of Ireland states that Vhi had 70 percent of the market.[1] Until 14 December 2006, its main rival in the market was BUPA Ireland but since BUPA's withdrawal, Irish based Quinn Healthcare and Aviva (formerly Hiberian) have emerged as Vhi's main competition. The current Vhi Healthcare business model is based on directly paying the consultant and hospital bills of its members and does not provide medical services directly, however in February 2010 Vhi launched Vhi HomeCare a joint venture providing Hospital in the Home type services, it also provides minor injuries treatment centres through another joint venture partnership, Vhi Swiftcare.
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board was created in 1957 under the Voluntary Health Insurance Act, 1957[2] by the Minister for Health Tom O'Higgins. This law has been amended but remains the primary legislation under which Vhi Healthcare operates.
The company held a monopoly in the health insurance market in Ireland until 1996, when BUPA entered the market. The company re-branded from "VHI - Voluntary Health Insurance" to "Vhi Healthcare" in the early 2000s, although the Board's legal name has never been altered.
The company has caused controversy recently by its demand that risk equalisation be introduced in the health insurance market in Ireland. This would mean that Quinn-healthcare (formerly the business of BUPA Ireland) and eventually Vivas Health would be forced to subsidise Vhi Healthcare in its activities, as Vhi's customer base is older that that of its competitors. On 13 December 2006, BUPA announced it is to leave the Irish market, due to risk equalisation being introduced.
It is expected that the "statutory corporation" status of Vhi Healthcare will soon be changed in order to prepare it for more vigorous competition as it is often accused of being a virtual monopoly on private healthcare. While the privatisation of the company is not believed to be imminent, it was reported in the company's 2004 Annual Report[3] that the Minister for Health would change the status of the board into a limited company owned by the state. The Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2008,[4] allows the Board to transfer its health insurance functions to a wholly owned subsidiary which will be a private company limited by shares. However, it does not dissolve the Board itself, which will become a holding company. It also requires the health insurance company to achieve the revel of reserves that any other authorised insurer is required to have, something it was previously exempt from.
The Irish Government announced on 27 May 2010 that the company is to be privatised within the next three years. Spokespeople from the Department of Health and Children stated that they did not expect premiums to increase or the loss of any jobs at the 800 strong company. The state expects to invest large sums of money to allow the company gain a solvency ratio in line with regulations and other insurance companies. This coincides with new health risk equalisation measures which are to be rolled out from 2012. The Irish government are looking toward retaining Ireland's history of community rating in health insurance.[5]
This decision has, ostensibly, been overturned by the formation of a new coalition government after the Irish General Election 2011. In the coalition's Programme for Government,[6] the Coalition commits itself to retaining VHI Healthcare as a state-owned corporation, serving as a public option within a Universal Health insurance system, modeled on the Dutch healthcare system.