Numbers taking out health insurance fall as price increases hit households

There was no growth between last September and December as premium hikes ate into household budgets. ​

The percentage of the population with health insurance actually fell slightly to 47pc in the full year 2023, which is the first annual decline in the percentage in a decade. This decrease in the percentage is linked to a significant increase in the total number of people living in Ireland. However, the total number of people with health insurance continues to rise.

There has also been a fall in the number of children insured, which finance experts put down to pressures on household budgets from inflation.

The average premium paid by an adult was close to €1,600 last year, up by 10pc, new figures from the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) show.

In the last few months, multiple price hikes have been announced by VHI, Laya and Irish Life Health.

Dermot Goode, of TotalHealthCover.ie, said the three main health insurers had announced three premium rises in just over a year. These amounted cumulatively to increases of about 15pc.

A family of two adults and two children would face with a premium increase of €300 and €550 when they next renew, Mr Goode said. He added that it was not surprising there had been a decrease in the numbers with health cover given the rate of premium increases over the past two years.

In a review of the sector over the past year, the HIA found people over the age of 65 were paying 43pc more on average for their health insurance. The main reason is that they want orthopaedic and ophthalmic benefits on their plans.

The HIA said 73pc of under-65s and one-third of over-65s were on plans with restricted orthopaedic cover.

“This is one of the main reasons why older people with health insurance are paying more than younger people.

Plans with higher orthopaedic cover tend to be more expensive,” the HIA said.

It added that 2.48 million people had private health insurance last year, meaning 47pc of the population had health cover.

However, the growth in the number of people with health insurance is slowing down – it had increased by only 1.6pc since 2022, the regulator said.

The HIA report shows there are now 350 different health insurance plans, adding to the confusion for consumers.

Health insurers did not cut any plans last year, and instead added 23 new ones.

VHI’s most popular plan is Company Plan Plus Level One, while Laya’s is Essential Health 300. Irish Life’s most popular plan is 4D Health 2.

Mr Goode said: “A lot of the older members are correctly paying over the odds as they need to protect key benefits such as orthopaedic and ophthalmic cover.

“However, a significant proportion of the older members are overpaying on dated plans through a combination of inertia and fear of change, which is unfortunate.”

He said that in many cases they can source the cover they need from the same insurer at a significant saving.HIA chief executive Ray Dolan said the authority’s annual market report was used by the HIA to monitor trends in the industry and inform policy on that basis.