 Logo used since 2023 | |
| Company type | Statutory Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Insurance |
| Founded | 12 February 1957; 68 years ago (1957-02-12) |
| Headquarters | Purcellsinch,Kilkenny, Ireland |
Key people | |
| Products | |
| Revenue | €1.68 billion (2023) |
Number of employees | 1800 (2023) |
| Website | vhi |
TheVoluntary Health Insurance Board (Irish:An Bord Árachais Sláinte Shaorálaigh) — which trades under the brand nameVhi Healthcare, and is still commonly referred to in Ireland as "The Vhi" – is the largesthealth insurance company in Ireland. It is astatutory corporation whose members are appointed by theMinister for Health. It is regulated by theHealth Insurance Authority.
Vhi Healthcare offers a number of health insurance products. It also has Dental and Travel insurance. Vhi Healthcare has over 1.2 million members. Until 14 December 2006, its main rival in the market wasBUPA Ireland but since BUPA's withdrawal, Irish basedLaya Healthcare (formerlyQuinn Healthcare) andIrish Life Health have emerged as Vhi's main competition. The current Healthcare business model is based on directly paying the consultant and hospital bills of its members. In February 2010 Vhi launched Vhi HomeCare a joint venture providing "Hospital in the Home" type services, it also provides urgent and planned care through its Health & Wellbeing provision services including Vhi 360 Healthcare Clinics.
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board was created in 1957 under the Voluntary Health Insurance Act, 1957[1] by the Minister for HealthTom 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, whenBUPA 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.
It is expected that the "statutory corporation" status of Vhi Healthcare will soon be changed to prepare it for more vigorous competition as it is often accused of being a virtual monopoly on private healthcare. While theprivatisation of the company is not believed to be imminent, it was reported in the company's 2004 Annual Report[2] that the Minister for Health would change the status of the board into alimited company owned by the state. The Voluntary Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2008,[3] allows the Board to transfer its health insurance functions to a wholly owned subsidiary which will be aprivate company limited by shares. However, it does not dissolve the Board itself, which will become aholding company. It also requires the health insurance company to achieve the level of reserves that any other authorised insurer is required to have, something it was previously exempt from.
The Irish Government announced on 27 May 2010 that the company was to be privatised within the next three years. Spokespeople from the Department of Health stated that they did not expect premiums to increase or the loss of any jobs at the 800 strong company. The state expected to invest large sums of money to allow the company gain a solvency ratio in line with regulations and other insurance companies. This coincided with new health risk equalisation measures which were to be rolled out from 2012. The Irish government were looking toward retaining Ireland's history ofcommunity rating inhealth insurance.[4]
This decision was, ostensibly, overturned by thecoalition government formed after the2011 Irish General Election. In their Programme for Government, the Coalition committed itself to retaining VHI Healthcare as a state-owned corporation, serving as a public option within a universal health insurance system and modelled on theDutch healthcare system.[5]
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