Dispute between HSE and Laya hears threat to pursue private patients for hospital charges

The Mater Hospital in Dublin complained it suffered losses of €222,000 since 2014 as a result of Laya's failure to discharge accounts due by its policyholders for the acute healthcare service they received. File photo: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

A dispute over the payment for accommodation for private-consultants' patients in public hospitals led to a threat from some hospitals that patients would have to be individually pursued for contested amounts, the High Court has heard.

An insurers' waiver form saying a person wants to be treated privately while in a public hospital became the focus of a dispute which is now at the centre of a hearing of an action by the HSE against the second largest health insurer, Laya Healthcare.