‘Consultant ‘holding up’ €340,000 insurance payments to the HSE

Date Published: 17-Sep-2012

By Dara Bradley

The Health Service Executive West (HSE) may restrict consultants’ access to private beds in Galway’s two main public hospitals as punishment for doctors’ tardiness in filling out paperwork for insurance companies, which is contributing to the worsening financial deficit in the local health service.

Currently, one in five beds, 20%, at University Hospital Galway (UHG) and Merlin Park Hospital, are used by consultants to treat private patients who have private health insurance cover from the likes of VHI and Aviva.

But this may be restricted by the HSE unless consultants start to fill out, on a more regular basis, insurance claims forms for private patients treated at public hospitals, which is necessary in order for the public hospitals to claim back outstanding monies.

UHG and Merlin Park are owed around €6 million from insurance companies for treatment of private patients at the hospitals. The money is not being released because consultants have failed to submit claims forms.

The Connacht Sentinel understands that the HSE is waiting for one hospital consultant in Galway to submit claims worth over €340,000.

The issue was raised by HSE management during negotiations on pay and conditions with consultants’ representatives in Dublin over the weekend.

It is understood the majority of consultants in Galway are compliant and return the necessary claim forms within a month but there is a small cohort, who continue to refuse to do the administration and paperwork.

Chairperson of the HSE West, City Councillor Pádraig Conneely, has repeatedly called for HSE management to take action against those consultants who fail to return claims forms within a certain timeframe.

“I welcome any move by the HSE to restrict consultants’ access to private beds in public hospitals when there is so much money outstanding from insurance companies because consultants fail to fill out the forms and send them to VHI and Aviva,” he said.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel