Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697804681885.pdf (Ireland)
DÁIL ÉIREANN AN BILLE ÁRACHAIS SLÁINTE SHAORÁLAIGH (LEASÚ) 2007 VOLUNTARY HEALTH INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2007 LEASUITHE TUARASCÁLA REPORT AMENDMENTS [No.

39b of 2007] [10 March, 2008] [Printers Reference] DÁIL ÉIREANN AN BILLE ÁRACHAIS SLÁINTE SHAORÁLAIGH (LEASÚ) 2007 —AN TUARASCÁIL VOLUNTARY HEALTH INSURANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL 2007 —REPORT Leasuithe Amendments 1.

In page 4, line 4, to delete “13” and substitute “10”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

2.


In page 4, line 6, to delete “19” and substitute “16”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

3.

In page 4, to delete lines 23 to 37 and substitute the following: “Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1994.
3.—Section 2(1) of the Act of 1994 is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following definition: “ ‘Act of 2001’ means the Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2001;”, (b) in the definition of “health insurance contract” (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 2001), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (d): “(d) a contract of insurance, or any other insurance arrangement, the purpose of which is to provide for the making of payments specifically for the reimbursement or discharge of fees or charges in respect of the provision of hospital in-patient services or relevant health services to persons or any dependants of any of them and one of the following conditions is satisfied— (i) neither the said persons nor any such dependants are ordinarily resident in the State, or (ii) where any of the persons to whom the said contract or arrangement relates are temporarily resident in the State during the subsistence of the said contract or arrangement — (I) those persons are so resident solely for the purpose of carrying out their duties as employees, and (II) those persons constitute not more than— (A) 20 per cent of the total number of persons (other than dependants of them) to whom the said contract or arrangement relates, and (B) 20 of the total number of persons employed in the State by the one person;”, and [No.
39b of 2007] [10 March, 2008] (c) by the insertion of the following definition: “ ‘in-patient indemnity payment’ means any payment made pursuant to a health insurance contract by a registered undertaking for the purposes of reimbursing or discharging, in whole or in part, fees or charges in respect of the provision of hospital in-patient services.”.”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

4.
In page 5, to delete lines 5 to 13 and substitute the following: “ “(3) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a health insurance contract— (a) where, and without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of ‘health insurance contract’ (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 2001) in section 2(1), such a contract, either of itself or as construed with any linked or related other health insurance contract, makes no provision for the making of in-patient indemnity payments, or (b) relating solely to the public hospital daily in-patient charges made under the Health (In-patient Charges) Regulations 1987 (S.I.
No.

116 of 1987).”.”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

5.

In page 5, to delete lines 14 to 22 and substitute the following: “Amendment of section 12 of Act of 1994.
5.—Section 12 (inserted by section 9 of the Act of 2001) of the Act of 1994 is amended, in subsection (2), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (c): “(c) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraphs (a) to (d) of the definition of ‘health insurance contract’ (inserted by section 2 of the Act of 2001) in section 2(1), a scheme may include a provision specifying that the scheme shall not apply to so much of the activities of a registered undertaking as consist of effecting health insurance contracts where such a contract, either of itself or as construed with any linked or related other health insurance contract, makes no provision for the making of in-patient indemnity payments.”.”.
—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

6.

In page 7, line 12, after “facilities” to insert the following: “(not including facilities which are co-located on the premises of public hospitals)”.

—Jan O'Sullivan.

7.

In page 7, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “Responsibilities of the Board.

5.—(1) The Board must achieve solvency and prove itself to be so before any additional powers are vested on it so to ensure fair competition within the market.
(2) The Board shall foster competition within the health insurance market and refrain from engaging in any actions which may hinder the operation of competition within the market.

(3) The Board shall cease to tie or bundle any of its existing ancillary products, or future ancillary products, to its health insurance products.”.

2 —James Reilly.

8.

In page 7, line 22, after “dispose” to insert the following: “(but only to an entity or person within the public service)”.

—Jan O'Sullivan.

9.


In page 8, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “(3) Section 8(3) shall apply to the relevant subsidiary as that section applies to a subsidiary referred to in section 8(1).”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

10.

In page 8, line 43, to delete “does” and substitute “shall”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

11.

In page 9, line 49, to delete “11” and substitute “8”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

12.


In page 10, after line 49, to insert the following: “Competition Authority review of health insurance market.

16.—The Competition Authority must review the health insurance market on a 12 monthly basis, particularly with a view to examining whether the Voluntary Health Insurance is abusing its dominant position, and to ensure that the Voluntary Health Insurance cooperates fully with any investigation carried out by the Competition Authority.”.

—James Reilly.

13.
—James Reilly.

13.

In page 11, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following: “(5) A State guarantee shall not be provided to enable the Board or a subsidiary to raise or borrow money under this section or under any other provision of the Voluntary Health Insurance Acts 1957 to 2008.”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

14.


In page 11, lines 22 and 23, to delete all words from and including “(other” in line 22 down to and including “Act” in line 23 and substitute the following: “made by the Minister under section 2(5)(b)(ii) (inserted by section 6(c)) of the Act of 1996 or under section 9 or section 15”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

15.

In page 11, line 25, to delete “or regulation”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

16.


In page 11, line 27, to delete “or regulation is laid before it, the order or regulation” and substitute “is laid before it, the order”.

—An tAire Sláinte agus Leanaí.

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