Hard times hit private health cover
The second quarter of 2011 witnessed the largest three-month drop-off in private health insurance patients (29,000) since the recession began.
After the initial rush to cancel policies steadied in 2010, the trend accelerated in 2011. In the first six months of this year, 43,000 people stopped paying for private health insurance. This was more than double the six-month average in both 2009 and 2010.
This rush away from private policies reduced the number of people covered by health insurance to under 2.2 million after standing at 2.3 million three years ago.
Health Insurance Authority (HIA) figures showed the difficulties facing public hospitals, as separate data showed the number of people on waiting lists has jumped by 40% since the start of 2010.
The less people who pay into private insurance funds, the more patients who require their treatment to be fully subsidised under the public health system. There are also more non-private patients competing for the same public slots in consultants’ rosters.
The HIA said the problem has been compounded by recent census figures which showed Ireland had a larger population than expected.
This meant that instead of an expected 49.6% of the population holding private in-patient insurance, as was estimated in March, the coverage actually stands at 47.7%.
Next week, Quinn Healthcare will increase the price of its company care choice plan by €93 per adult, to €795.
Also on September 1, Aviva will hike its Level 2 hospital plan to €1,126, which is 19.7% higher than the existing premium. The company will be cutting 54 plans from its range at the same time.
The reduction in private cover has come as data from the Irish Health website showed that the number of patients waiting for treatment has grown by 40% since the start of 2010.
Meanwhile, one of the country’s busiest hospitals has been given until Monday to reduce the risks to patients arriving at its emergency department.
Tallaght Hospital was the subject of a snap inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority on Wednesday.
Inspectors discovered that a tuberculosis patient had spent more than three days in a room which was not an isolation room and opened onto a corridor where other patients were being cared for.
