Levy set to hike up cost of health insurance

The cost of health insurance is to rise again after the health minister announced changes to the rate of stamp duty.

The changes, which affect up to 85% of policies and will come in on Mar 1 next, have been criticised and labelled “a disaster” by health insurance expert Dermot Goode, who claimed it would accelerate the “vicious cycle” of people dropping health insurance altogether.

Health Minister James Reilly admitted he was “reluctant” to raise the stamp duty on the advanced cover plans, but said it was necessary to protect community-rated health insurance for older and less healthy consumers.