THE chief executive of the VHI, Mr Brian Duncan, insisted yesterday it would not write an open cheque for health board hospitals who are threatening to charge some VHI patients when their annual budget runs out.
About 52,000 of the VHI's 1.1 million subscribers are treated annually in health board hospitals. There is no threat at present to any person covered by the VHI, Mr Duncan said, and there is no scope in present agreements for "balance billing" of its customers. (Balance billing is a VHI mechanism for partial payment of medical expenses, with the member paying the balance.)
Agreement for the current year has already been reached with private hospitals such as the Blackrock Clinic. Agreement in principle has been reached with the voluntary hospitals which account for 60 per cent of all hospitals and include large hospitals such as the Mater and St Vincent's in Dublin.
"The principle of the cap (on spending) is sacred and must be maintained," he added. The VHI has offered the health board hospitals an increase of 5.1 per cent in current negotiations to cover the coming year. The health boards have said this is not enough, though Mr Duncan said they had not put forward a concrete counter proposal.
Placing a ceiling on their VHI allocation was one of the few incentives the hospitals had to be efficient, according to Mr Duncan. He pointed out that since 1991 the health board hospitals' allocation from the VHI had risen from £30 million to over £60 million.
Mr Sean Hurley, chief executive of the Southern Health Board, who is leading the negotiations on behalf of the health boards, declined to comment yesterday.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said it would not be appropriate for him to comment while negotiations were still taking place.
Mr Duncan would not say what level of increase VHI subscribers could expect in the current year. Under the VHI (Amendment) Bill introduced last November, the VHI will be obliged to notify the Minister for Health of proposed increases in premiums 30 days in advance. The Bill also gives the Minister power to refuse the increase, though he must give his reasons in writing to the VHI.