Mayo Fine Gael TD, John O’Mahony, has received assurances from the Minister for Health, Dr James O’Reilly, that a number of measures have been put in place to allow public hospitals such as Mayo General avail of quicker payment by health insurance companies.
The Minister told Deputy O’Mahony in the Dáil that the HSE and voluntary hospitals, including Mayo General Hospital, recoup a considerable amount of income from private insurance companies in return for private and semi-private treatment services provided to patients with private health insurance cover.
He said that lengthy delays can occur between the discharge of patients and the receipt of payment from the health insurance companies. He said the Minister has emphasised to the HSE the importance of addressing this problem, in conjunction with the insurers, so that the maximum resources possible are available to the health system.
Dep O’Mahony said that the HSE has introduced a number of initiatives to improve the claims collection process and facilitate faster submission of claims which will accelerate income collection within the public hospital system. In particular the HSE has instructed hospitals to bring down the value of claims awaiting consultant action and hospitals will also target the highest-value claims. This issue was addressed in the proposals recently agreed with the IHCA and IMO at the Labour Relations Commission which includes an explicit requirement that consultants complete private insurance claims documentation within 14 days of receipt.
The HSE has also awarded the contract for the roll-out of an electronic claims management system in 11 HSE sites to replace the current paper based system. Work has already commenced and the system will be operational in four sites by the end of October.
Furthermore, the Department has also been working with the main health insurers to agree in principle a system of improved cash-flow and accelerated payment which will provide a once-off cash flow benefit in 2012 in the region of €125m for the health system. The details of the accelerated payment arrangements are at an advanced stage and are being finalised with the health insurers at present.
“Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar will benefit from those new measures. At a time when resources within all hospitals are being stretched to the absolute limit, it is imperative that all outstanding monies owed by the private insurance companies is collected as quickly as possible.
“I’m pleased that the Minister has made this announcement as I’m aware that there is a lot of concern regarding the collection of outstanding money at Mayo General Hospital from the private insurance companies,” he said.
