THE VHI has dismissed threats from the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association that patients will face "balance billing" on Tuesday.
"We have a relationship with individual consultants, not with the IHCA", said Dr Bernadette Carr, VHI's medical director. "Ninety four per cent of consultants participated in the VHI's schedule of fees last year. Only one doctor out of 1,300 has written to us since March 1st saying he wants to get out of the agreement."
But this would change next Tuesday, said Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick, IHCA secretary general. "The VHI only sent out their latest offer yesterday. Consultants will get it on Tuesday, along with a letter of undertaking which has to go back to the VHI. I know a lot of them won't accept it."
Ms Carr said the VHI had met the IHCA about the increase in fees, and a 3 per cent rise had been agreed for this year. The VHI has offered the same increase for next year, but the IHCA wants 4.5 per cent.
But in addition to this increase, there were more than 5,000 individual treatments for which there were individual fees, she said. "I don't know what they're worried about, whether it's the individual treatments or a higher increase for phase two," she said.
Mr Fitzpatrick said the 3 per cent covered most but not all procedures. The VHI offer for specialities not covered by the 3 per cent was also unacceptable, he said.
He said the VHI had shown no sense of urgency about their concerns. It had offered dates for a meeting at the end of April, "a long way down the road". Asked if he felt public sympathy was not on the side of the consultants, especially in the light of the revelation that six of them earned over £500,000 a year from the VHI, he said: "What I'm worried about is that it's only six."
Meanwhile, Mr Des Carney, secretary of the group which represents cancer specialists, said there will be no "balance billing" for cancer patients in the short term.