Competition in the Irish Private Health Insurance Market

1. INTRODUCTION
Terms of Reference
1.1 The Minister for Health and Children requested the Competition
Authority and The Health Insurance Authority to report on “further
measures to encourage competition in the health insurance market and
the strategy or strategies which might be adopted in order to create
greater balance in the share of the market held by competing
insurers”. These recommendations will inform the drafting of a Bill to
amend the Voluntary Health Insurance Acts.
1.2 Following discussions between the Health Insurance Authority and the
Competition Authority and noting that the Government’s Health
Strategy envisages community-rated private health insurance
continuing to play a major role in the overall resourcing of Irish
healthcare, the following Terms of Reference were agreed for the
project:
• Examine market structure in relation to private health insurance, and
identify relevant sub-markets, if they exist. These markets will be
analysed from the perspective of restrictions on the degree of
rivalry, barriers to entry and barriers to switching private health
insurers.
• Identify and analyse industry practices, legislation and/or
administrative practices in private health insurance in the State that
limit the degree of rivalry in the marketplace to the detriment of
consumers.
• Identify barriers to switching private health insurers, analyse their
origin, and, where appropriate, make recommendations to have
unnecessary barriers to switching removed.
• Identify duties that could be assigned to the Health Insurance
Authority under existing legislative provisions and additional
functions that might possibly be assigned to the Health Insurance
Authority.
• Identify and analyse any implications for competition of existing
primary and secondary legislation affecting private health insurance.
• On the basis of the analysis and conclusions of the joint report of the
health insurance market –
o
Make recommendations for change to any enactment or
administrative practice that is limiting competition in private
health insurance in the State to the detriment of consumers.
o
Make any other recommendations deemed appropriate.
1.3 In April, 2006 the Competition Authority and the Health Insurance
Authority undertook a joint public consultation process. The Health
Insurance Authority expresses its gratitude to the various individuals,
firms, and other bodies who took the time to make submissions to the
Authorities during the consultation period, or who otherwise assisted
the Authority during the drafting of this Report. It is hardly necessary
to point out that this Report could not have been completed without
the input of these parties.
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