VHI may need €100m bailout to stay viable

Taxpayers may need to inject more than €100m into VHI over the coming years to keep the struggling health insurer commercially viable.

The situation was revealed in the firm’s latest annual report, which warned VHI lost more than 50,000 customers last year.

According to the report, VHI finished 2012 with a €54m profit — a figure close to the €60m end-of-year rate the insurer has been told it needs to reach to have a sustainable future.