Public hospital charges ‘driving up health insurance’

Public hospital charges are driving up health insurance premiums for individuals and families by €150 and €250, health insurance expert Dermot Goode has claimed.

“While the cost of claims is an ongoing cost driver, what is more worrying is the emerging trend of increasing claims costs from the public health sector,” said Mr Goode.

The founder of totalhealthcover.ie pointed out that in 2014 legislation was introduced allowing public hospitals charge patients with private health cover.

Those with health insurance who consent to be treated as a private patient when admitted to a public hospital can be charged between €813 and €1,000 a night.

The statutory charge of overnight and day in-patients services is €75 a day, up to a maximum of €750 in any 12 consecutive months. However, the €75 fee does not apply to medical card holders and other patient groups.

The Government had predicted that about €30m would be collected from public hospital costs, but Mr Goode said some reports now indicated the amount raised was closer to €150m.

Mr Goode claimed recent announcements from a number of health insurance companies confirmed that the hospital charges were having an impact on insurance costs — Laya Healthcare attributed its 5% increase in July to the new charge and VHI said it was one of the reasons for its second increase this year.

“If every health insurance member continues to sign these forms without querying why they are being charged, they can expect more premium hikes to cover the cost,” he warned.

Mr Goode said people could continue to be treated as public patients and the €75 charge was fully covered by health insurers.