Recent increases of a government levy on health insurance has seen price hikes in Ireland, resulting in thousands of people cancelling their cover.
The levy, which is set to rise again by as much as 40%, could result in average adult prices going from EUR205 to EUR285 and the price of insurance for children increasing from EUR66 to EUR95.
The initial levy saw 75,000 people cancel their private cover last year, putting added pressure on an already stressed public health system.
If the expected levy increased is introduced, experts expect to see more cancellations this year.
“If prices were to increase again in 2012 as a result of this levy, the cancellation figure could be anything up to 100,000 by next January.The challenge for the industry is that those cancelling tend to be the younger, healthier lives,” said Health Insurance expert Dermot Good.
“The impact of this trend is that the insurers are left with higher claims costs which cause more upward pressure on premiums and thus the cycle of increased cancellations/premium hikes continues.”
A number of main health insurers in Ireland have already announced price increases for 2012 with Quinn Healthcare stating a 12% increase on top of the 20% increase some customers experienced last year.
Aviva have announced a 15% increase for this year, while VHI prices are rising by 2%. This time last year VHI added up to 45% to the premiums of some customers, according to Inside Ireland.
