Health Minister Mary Harney has said she would not be happy with a situation where health insurers could switch ownership every three years to avoid risk equalisation payments.
She was reacting to yesterday's news of the takeover of BUPA Ireland by businessman Sean Quinn.
The deal means that BUPA's 500,000 customers will continue to be provided with health insurance from its base in Fermoy, where 300 people are employed. BUPA had decided to pull out of Ireland over having to compensate VHI for its older customer base.
But the Quinn Group says that, as a new entrant to the market, it will be exempt from these risk equalisation payments for the next three years.
Minister Harney said her priority was that Ireland had a stable and affordable insurance market.
She told RTE radio that if companies could switch ownership every three years to avoid making risk equalisation payments, that would not be a robust system. But she said she would await a decision from the Health Insurance Authority on the issue.
Also speaking on RTE Radio, the chief executive of the VHI, Vincent Sheridan said the question arising from the sale was whether or not legislation supported public policy.
Meanwhile, Bupa Ireland said on its first day of resumed business following its takeover by the Quinn Group, its Fermoy headquarters received up to 12,000 telephone calls.
The majority of calls were from members whose policies had been due to lapse this month, seeking to confirm their renewal, and there was also a significant volume of new business queries, the company said.
