The Health Insurance Authority (HIA) said yesterday it was anxious to see an end to the uncertainty surrounding the possible introduction of risk equalisation into the Irish private health insurance market.
The authority's chief executive, Mr Dermot Ryan, said the uncertainty was acting as a barrier to other insurance companies entering the market.
The only health insurers in the market at present are the VHI and BUPA and, while the HIA has spoken to others interested in coming into the market, uncertainty over risk equalisation was a barrier, Mr Ryan said.
Other barriers include the size of the market - just over two million people - high set-up costs and ownership of the VHI. It is a State company.
The introduction of risk equalisation would mean people taking out private health insurance would pay a premium in accordance with their age and health status. The premium would be rated in accordance with the risk they posed. At present all policy holders pay the same premium, regardless of their circumstances, under what is termed community rating.
The VHI has been campaigning for risk equalisation and BUPA opposes it. VHI says it is necessary because it has a larger number of older, more costly subscribers than BUPA. The study published by the HIA yesterday bears this out. It found 46 per cent of VHI's customer base is aged 45 and over, compared to only 29 per cent of BUPA's customer base.
The study also showed customers are more likely to make claims as they get older. It found some 85 per cent of persons over 65 have made claims while only 16 per cent under 24 have done so.
At present the EU is, following a submission from BUPA, deciding whether risk equalisation here would constitute State aid to the VHI. The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has put off plans for risk equalisation until the EU's decision is known. That decision is expected at the end of this month.