THE NATION’S LARGEST health insurance provider, Vhi Healthcare, has announced a surplus of €65 million for 2013.
At the end of 2013, the state-owned company had free cash reserves of over €389 million, bringing the company’s solvency level to 156% compared to 108% in 2012 and 100% in 2011.
Vhi also announced today that it had finalised a four-year reinsurance agreement with Berkshire Hathaway, the company owned by American billionaire Warren Buffett, and had made an application for authorisation by the Central Bank of Ireland.
The authorisation approval would mean that Vhi would become a full insurer. While this would mean more stringent rules on the reserves the company was required to have, it would also allow it to sell more products.
The company’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and medical review process, recovered a total of €14.8 million in the year.
The company’s CEO John O’Dwyer said that the Berkshire Hathaway deal represented faith in the company’s financial position.
“We are delighted to build on the initial agreement we had in place with Berkshire Hathaway and value their support. We feel this is a vote of confidence from a highly respected company and look forward to continuing our partnership over the next four years.”
However, speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, O’Dwyer said that it was “too early” to rule out premium increases.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say