Rise in private bed charges may cause big insurance hike

PRIVATE health insurance members could be hit with significant price hikes as a result of the budget’s 20% private bed charges rise after the country’s main health insurance firms refused to rule out price increases.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan increased the cost of private and semi-private beds in public hospitals, which will bring millions of euro to the exchequer.

It had been anticipated the increase would not be passed on to the 51% of the general public who have private health insurance, with firms like VHI, Quinn Healthcare and Hibernian Health instead bearing the brunt of the policy change.

However, in correspondence with the Irish Examiner, all three have refused to rule out the possibility that the price increase will lead to a hike in health insurance rate charges, which typically stand between €600 and €700.

And while the three firms emphasised that other issues will also be a factor, a VHI spokesperson confirmed that the budget plan will add an extra €54 million to the company’s costs — raising concerns that patients will be hit in the pocket in an attempt to pay for the move.

“The concern we have is that patients are going to be affected by this, it’s a very bad scenario,” said Irish Patients Association spokesman Stephen McMahon. “If private health insurance charges increase too much, patients may have to opt out and go back to the public service, which is already overcrowded without having more patients to treat.

“If the charges rise is passed onto patients, it could lead to a situation where we’ll have private beds lying empty because people can’t afford them,” Mr McMahon added.

The 20% bed charges increase is part of a series of budget plans put in place by the Government in an attempt to raise funds from all possible areas during the economic downturn.

The health service has been among the worst affected by this financial squeeze, with the controversial budget plans also including a €100 charge for anyone who attends an emergency department without a GP’s letter, and the over-70s medical card crisis.

A spokesperson for Quinn Healthcare said that while the firm, “does not currently have any plans for a price increase... when we carry out our next review we will take many factors into account, including the 20% increase in the cost of public hospital beds”.

Hibernian Health mirrored the comment, saying that due to medical inflation and the budget plan, insurance firms “will now experience a 20% increase in a significant proportion of their cost base”.