History
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board was created in 1957 under the Voluntary Health Insurance Act, 1957 by the Minister for Health Tom O'Higgins. This law has been amended but remains the primary legislation under which Vhi Healthcare operates.
The company held a monopoly in the health insurance market in Ireland until 1996, when BUPA entered the market. The company re-branded from "VHI - Voluntary Health Insurance" to "Vhi Healthcare" in the early 2000s (decade), although the Board's legal name has never been altered.
The company has caused controversy recently by its demand that risk equalisation be introduced in the health insurance market in Ireland. This would mean that Quinn-healthcare (formerly the business of BUPA Ireland) and eventually Vivas Health would be forced to subsidise Vhi Healthcare in its activities, as Vhi's customer base is older that that of its competitors. On 13 December 2006, BUPA announced it is to leave the Irish market, due to risk equalisation being introduced.
It is expected that the "statutory corporation" status of Vhi Healthcare will soon be changed in order to prepare it for more vigorous competition as it is often accused of being a virtual monopoly on private healthcare. While the privatisation of the company is not believed to be imminent, it was reported in the company's 2004 Annual Report that the Minister for Health would change the status of the board into a limited company owned by the state. The Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2008, allows the Board to transfer its health insurance functions to a wholly owned subsidiary which will be a private company limited by shares. However, it does not dissolve the Board itself, which will become a holding company. It also requires the health insurance company to achieve the revel of reserves that any other authorised insurer is required to have, something it was previously exempt from.
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