VHI premium rise - Health of the public held to ransom

The VHI’s request for an 8.5% increase in the average cost of its insurance is a challenge to the Government’s stated intention of minimising the rate of inflation, which is running at around 5%.

Allowing VHI to increase its charges by more than the rate of inflation will affect more than 1.5 million customers, and will inevitably contribute to inflationary pressures.

On average the cost of insurance premiums has increased by 25% in the past two years.