Young ‘priced out’ of health insurance

Senior figures in the country’s largest health insurers yesterday demanded action to stop younger, healthier people fleeing the market, leading to a “vicious circle” of rising premiums.

As many as 80,000 people are expected to abandon their health insurance this year with as many as 100,000 people likely to follow suit next year.

With as many as 200 people dropping their health cover each day, mostly in the 20 to 29-year-old age bracket, some of the insurers speaking at yesterday’s joint Oireachtas health committee meeting said solutions needed to be found.