Hibernian Aviva Health, which provides health insurance to over 200,000 consumers, welcomes today’s decision by the European Commission to refer Ireland to the European Court of Justice to ensure the regulation of the Vhi is compliant with EU law and subject to the standard regulatory framework under the financial regulator.
- Full regulation of all health insurers is critical for a competitive and customer focused market
- Regrettable that legal action is required to protect the interest of consumers
- Announcement questions validity of Government plans for health insurance levy
Hibernian Aviva Health, which provides health insurance to over 200,000 consumers, welcomes today’s decision by the European Commission to refer Ireland to the European Court of Justice to ensure the regulation of the Vhi is compliant with EU law and subject to the standard regulatory framework under the financial regulator.
The decision by the Commission follows repeated failures to achieve the required regulation of the Vhi and is an important step towards a fairly regulated and more competitive health insurance market, which will be of benefit to all health insurance consumers. The financial regulator requirements are designed to protect consumers and require regulated insurers to operate in accordance with consumer protection codes and maintain capital solvency levels of 40% to ensure each insurer is positioned to pay their customer’s claims.
Speaking about the announcement, Jim Dowdall, managing director of Hibernian Aviva Health, said: "We welcome today’s decision as a step towards the creation of a properly regulated and more competitive health insurance market which will result in greater choice and better value for consumers. It is regrettable that legal action by the EU Commission is required to force the government to protect the interests of consumers and ensure equal and appropriate regulation of the health insurance market. Hibernian Aviva Health will continue to actively champion the development of a fairly regulated, customer focused health insurance market.
"In light of today’s decision, we believe the government should review its decision to impose a levy on health insurers which is in effect a subsidy to the Vhi. It is inappropriate to introduce a levy which is just designed to protect the market share of the Vhi which continues to be non-compliant with EU Commission requirements and remains outside of the control of the financial regulator.
"The government should ensure that Vhi becomes regulated as a matter of urgency and should also move quickly to fully reform the health insurance market so that it is structured to encourage competition and deliver real value to all 2.2m customers in a community rated market."
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For further information please contact:
Alan Tyrrell
Hibernian Aviva
Telephone: 01 898 5452
Mobile: 086 850 8673
Ruth Burnside
Hibernian Aviva
Telephone: 01 898 5130
Mobile: 087 996 7496
Maura McBride
Hibernian Aviva
Telephone: 01 898 5574
Notes to editors:
About Hibernian Aviva Health
Hibernian Aviva Health is a division of Hibernian Aviva Group, Ireland’s leading insurance company with 1.2 million customers across the general insurance, life and pensions and health insurance sectors. The company is ranked first for general insurance and top three for life and pensions and health insurance.
Hibernian Aviva Group is a subsidiary of Aviva plc. Aviva is one of the world’s largest savings, general insurance and investment groups with the purpose of looking out for customers, employees and stakeholders with prosperity and peace of mind.