The (''An Bord Árachais Sláinte Shaorálaigh'' in
Irish Language ) - which trades under the brand name '''Vhi Healthcare''', and is still commonly referred to in Ireland as "The VHI" - is the largest
Health Insurance company in the
Republic Of Ireland . It is a
Statutory Corporation whose members are appointed by the
Minister For Health And Children . It is regulated by the
Health Insurance Authority .
Vhi Healthcare offers a number of health insurance products, including its five hospital plans (Plans A to E). It has also recently expanded into
Dental and
Travel insurance. Vhi Healthcare claims to have 1.55 million members which represents 40% of the population or 80% of the private health insurance
Market . Until 14th December 2006, its main rival in the market was
BUPA Ireland . The current Vhi Healthcare business model is based on directly paying the
Consultant and
Hospital bills of its members and does not provide medical services directly.
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board was created in . 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 rebranded from "VHI - Voluntary Health Insurance" to "Vhi Healthcare" in the early 2000s, 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 13th 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 owned by the state. Legislation to implement this change has yet to be published however.
