Consumers who can afford it feel obliged to take out private insurance due to the long waiting lists and delays that are still all too common in the public system
The relentlessness of the price increases being rolled out by the State’s private health insurance companies in recent years is putting significant strain on the finances of hundreds of thousands of households and will, if not checked, further intensify the pressure on the broader public health system.
Vhi Healthcare, Laya Healthcare and Irish Life Health have also blamed higher claim costs and more advanced treatments for the steady increase in prices. Despite rising costs , many families feel they have no choice but to pay thousands of euro for a policy that gives sometimes patchy access to private healthcare. They are told by insurers that the cost of cardiology, orthopaedic, ophthalmic and cancer claims have increased by up to 20 per cent, while drug costs have climbed by even more.
If prices continue to climb, private health insurance will simply become unaffordable for many , particularly for younger people. It is this cohort -– who are typically in better health and thus make fewer claims – that effectively subsidise the cost of healthcare for older people who need it most. All the hand-wringing from the providers about healthcare inflation is no doubt borne out by the prices they are being asked to pay by private hospitals, consultants and drug companies. At the very least we should have confidence they are extracting the best value for money from the healthcare network. It is simply untenable that they keep returning to the consumer.
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