BUPA to be sold to businessman Quinn

"The Great Bupa Run" ....... they come in make tens of millions and run away, and they are the victims !! wait until it turns out like America, and the older you get the more you pay, if you smoke lead a bad life style etc etc then people will want reisk equalisation back.. maybe quinn and bupa can sell the business to each other every 3 years !! so how come an irish based comp seem to think they can make a profit and a multinational like bupa cannot ??

MugsGame said:

with VHI subject to the same solvency requirements as Vivas and Bupa/Quinn, and possibly even privatised.

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The Solvency issue is a red herring put forward by Oliver Tattan. Vhi has 24% solvency and the requirement will be 25% soon.

The whole risk equalisation exemption is going to be difficult to resolve.

1. BUPA is a branch of BUPA in the UK. It is not a separate company. This has made it difficult to find out what profits it has been really making as they have been lumped in with the UK.

2. In theory you could separate out the branch and sell it but it is legally difficult.

3. In reality Quinn are buying access to the policyholders and therefore will need a company to service them.

Hence the new entrant bit. I sympathise with those who say they should not get an exemption but it is difficult to see why not under current legislation.

Of course, Tattan & co have jumped on the bandwagon also which will antagonise the Minister and HIA further. It seems to add to the profile of VIVAS being an opportunistic player and will unsettle policyholders. Will they ever learn?

If Bupa is a mutual type company and the business is being sold to a third party does this meant that the mutual members should get a windfall?

i doubt bupa/quinn would be giving money away
how come quinn seem to think they can make a profit and bupa could not ? unless they have a secret agreement to sell the company to each other every 3 years when the risk money would have to be paid !

Does anyone feel it is stitch up to keep the foreigners out of the Irish market and protect high prices?

Private health insurance only exists on the scale in this country ( about 51% of the population) 'cos the Dept of Health (and Children) fails to achieve on time delivery to quality that many people feel they could trust.

You pay tax, you pay social insurance, you pay the GP, you pay the pharmacy, you pay outpatients in the hospital and you pay health insurance. Watch out for MRSA and the wintervomiting bug , not to mind lying on a trolley. By the way when you get old they want to take some of your house as well.

Meanwhile some get away with paying little or nothing.

Isn't it a great little country really

Decani said:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0221/health1.html

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Well it's about time the government protected their decison. I moved from Bupa to Vhi a month ago and was bewildered when Quinn said he was a new entrant even though buying an existing business with a huge number of existing subscribers.
Not sure if I agree with Community Rating, especially when it's abused by people signing up for health insurance in the years when they feel they're sure to take out more than they put in, I'm more socialist about these things.
But having been told by the government how it was to be, Vhi seemed the only reliable option and it's reassuring that they're sticking to their convictions rather than defending loopholes.

Spondulicks I could'nt have put it better myself, you've taken the words right out of my mouth.
It would make you ill just thinking about being ill!

My Vivas health insurance is just up for renewal and I got a 12% price increase from last year.

Still they are about 203 € cheaper than the comparable option at VHI but 12% is a lot.

We need more competition in this market, it's suplementary health insurance we are talking here about. Nobody needs to have this kind of insurance as the main healthcare is paid for by taxes/duties. There should be an open market for this.

The fact the that 52% buy this product notwithstanding the rate of increase in the last few years ( ie inelastic demand : it does not peter of when the price rises) shows it is not discretionary.

It is the sense that the taxes and duties are not delivering which causes this.