Updated 8.15am
VHI HEALTHCARE IS set to announce today that the majority of its health insurance premiums will be hiked up from next month by an average of 3 per cent.
From 1 March, people will be paying more for their health insurance, with some plans going up by as much as 6 per cent.
Plan
The most common plans taken out with VHI – the One Plan range will see an increase of approximately 2 per cent.
It is believed the price hike is linked to new plans introduced this year that meant that private insurers are now charged for taking up beds they use in a public hospital.
According to John O’Dwyer, Chief Executive of Vhi Healthcare, said while they are aware of the enormous financial pressures facing our customers they “do need to factor in the additional costs arising from the fact that from January this year “all private patients will now be charged for occupying a bed in a public hospitals – the full impact of which is as yet uncertain”.
Public beds
In May, the government denied that health insurance policies could rise by up to 15 per cent as a result of its planned changes to the private system.
O’Dwyer added that the company had sought to keep the price increase “as low as possible”. He said they recognised “that affordability is the biggest issue facing our customers, we will continue to prioritise cost management with a view to bringing down costs for the customer while retaining quality of care, developing best practices, encouraging best possible outcomes and at the same time ensuring that there is no over utilisation”.
The Health Insurance Authority’s figures show that the number of people paying for private health insurance is continuing to fall.
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