Health insurance deadline sees surge in demand

There has been a last-minute surge in people taking out health insurance ahead of the imposition of new membership rules at midnight tonight, a spokesperson for the Health Insurance Authority said yesterday.

Lifetime community rating means people over the age of 34 who miss the deadline to purchase in-patient private health insurance will have to pay a loaded premium, up to a maximum of 70%, for the rest of their life.

Health insurance expert with totalhealthcover.ie, Dermot Goode, said the “avalanche” of calls started in the middle of last week.