Health insurance will rise by up to 25pc
Monday November 30 2009
HEALTH insurance costs for hundreds of thousands of customers are to rise by up to a quarter from January, it was confirmed yesterday.
Quinn Healthcare, which has 510,000 members, said its price increases would range from 8pc to 25pc depending on the scheme, number of adults, children and students covered.
The 25pc increase is being imposed on one of its cheapest schemes Essential -- pushing up the premium from €420 to €525 for an adult.
The company is blaming the large hike on the Government's €160 levy which all three insurers now have to pay for each adult on their books.
The €160 charge generates €300m, the cost of the tax reliefs for subscribers over 50 years for whom premiums might otherwise be unaffordable.
The hikes will see the price of cover for a family of two adults and two children on Essential Plus Excess, Quinn Healthcare's mainstream product, increase to €2,076 next year from €1,776, an increase of around 16-17pc. For an adult on the same cover, the price will rise from €642 to €778.
Donal Clancy, general manager of Quinn Healthcare, said the levy was charged per adult whether they were on a higher priced plan or a low-cost plan.
"The levy represents 48pc of the premium for the cheapest product on the market and just 6pc on higher level plans," he added.
Hibernian Aviva also increased its prices last month by between 5pc and 12pc for its 240,000 customers.
Imposed
A VHI spokesperson said no decision had yet been made on its 2010 premium increase -- although observers have speculated that it is likely to be over 20pc at least.
The new levy, in which all three insurers must pay €160 for all adult members, was imposed after the Government introduced tax reliefs for subscribers aged over 50 to ensure premiums remained affordable in the absence of risk equalisation.
Jim Dowdall, managing director of Hibernian Aviva, said yesterday he believed the levy was only serving to prop up an "inefficient VHI" and forcing its competitors to charge higher premiums.
"Prices could go down if this levy was removed," he insisted.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
Irish Independent
