There are now well over half a million more people insured than there were when BUPA Ireland entered the market back in 1997: the proportion of the population covered by health insurance has risen from 36 per cent to over 49 per cent. That's over half a million people who are not relying solely on the already over-stretched health services for their health care needs. Over 150,000 of these have joined Vhi Healthcare, a company whose profits have soared since the advent of competition, while its reserves have risen nearly four fold to over €330m in February 2004.