Brussels, 20/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 20 February, the European Commission approved state compensation to be granted through the new risk equalisation scheme (RES) for the provision of private medical insurance in Ireland for the period 2013 to 2015. The objective of the scheme is to promote intergenerational solidarity by ensuring better risk sharing between health insurers in the Irish PMI market. After examining the RES in line with EU rules on services of general economic interest (SGEI), the Commission decided that the aid to insurers is both justified and proportionate in light of the public service obligations they fulfil. The RES replaces the temporary tax and levy scheme, which expired at the end of 2012. It aims to ensure to ensure better redistribution of risk among private insurers who, under public service legal obligations (universal access irrespective of age and health; insurers cannot terminate a policy contract against the will of the insured person (lifetime cover); they must apply the same premium for a given level of cover regardless of the risk and policies must offer a minimum benefit level prescribed by law. The RES operates on the one hand by levying a charge on insurers based on the number of insured persons, and on the other hand by compensating insurers on behalf of each insured person falling into certain specific categories. As a consequence, the scheme decreases the incentive for insurers to avoid the “high risk” section of the population and cherry-pick the “low risk” section of the population. Ireland has put in place mechanisms to ensure that insurers do not receive any overcompensation. (FG/transl.fl)