Quinn-healthcare to increase premiums by up to 19%

Private health insurer Quinn-healthcare is to increase prices by an average of 16% for 2009, with increases ranging from 10% to 19%.

The company said the price hikes were due to the new health insurance levy imposed by the Government last week and to the 20% increase in public hospital bed charges announced in the Budget.

Quinn-healthcare said today: "Before the announcement of the new health insurance levy we were planning an average price increase of 8% to reflect the increased costs of providing health cover, with the 20% increase in public hospital beds being a significant driver of this.

"The new levy amounts to 12% of premium for us and, while we are bearing some of the impact, we have no option but to increase our prices by 8% more than that we would have otherwise done."