Health insurance - Customers hit yet again

The hapless customer will be the only victim of the Government’s 14% increase in the health insurance levy.

In asking insurance firms not to pass on the increase, Health Minister James Reilly is being disingenuous. He knew they would.

With three of Ireland’s health insurance companies set to increase premiums, families will be clobbered. A couple with two children will have to fork out an extra €328 in premiums next year.

The principles of risk equalisation and community rating to cushion elderly customers are laudable objectives. But with 60,000 people a year fleeing the insurance system, the burden on Ireland’s public health service is now unsustainable. Meanwhile, Dr Reilly’s vision of universal insurance fades by the day.