100,000 may drop health cover after hikes

Quinn Healthcare’s second major health insurance price hike announcement since the start of this month may force 100,000 more people to quit their coverage before the end of the year, it has been claimed.

Speaking after the insurance firm confirmed it would raise prices by 6% from the end of February, following a rise of between 7% and 25% weeks ago, Dermot Goode said the move would cause major difficulties for the system and patients.

Despite Quinn Healthcare attempts to blame the second price hike on the Government’s 40% health insurance levy, the market expert said the latest increase will make private insurance unaffordable for thousands.

He said the resulting influx of patients to public hospitals — which the HSE’s national service plan has claimed will see 4% less patients this year — will cause havoc to an already overcrowded health service.

“This latest increase ultimately adds to the probability of 100,000 Irish consumers allowing their health insurance to lapse in 2012, forcing them to rely on the already creaking public system,” Mr Goode, of healthinsurancesavings.ie, explained.

“The rate increase itself is not surprising, given the hike in the health insurance levies which was introduced on Jan 1. However, for hard-pressed consumers, this is a further blow to those who are trying to maintain their cover but struggling to meet the spiralling costs.

“The levy increases at the beginning of the year, together with the 4% average increase in public hospital charges, have had a direct impact on the health insurers as these charges were effective immediately.

“Whilst insurers have tried to absorb some of these increases, what we are seeing now is them passing the additional costs onto consumers,” he said.

The Quinn double price hike this month comes at a time when Health Insurance Authority (HIA) figures show 6,000 people are quitting or failing to renew their coverage every month.

Between January and September last year, 53,000 people left the market, mainly due to the rising premium costs demanded by Quinn Healthcare, VHI and Aviva Health insurance.

According to the HIA, 2.2m are signed up to private health insurance.

Quinn Healthcare managing director, Donal Clancy, said the 6% price hike will begin from the end of next month, but will not affect its “essential first scheme”.

The company’s 7%-25% price hike is being implemented to varying degrees across Quinn Healthcare’s adult coverage offers.

The Government announced late last year that its health insurance levy would increase from €208 to €285 for adults and €66 to €95 for children.

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