THE NUMBER of people covered by private health insurance is continuing to fall, new figures show.
Figures to be published today by industry regulator the Health Insurance Authority, show that there were 37,000 fewer subscribers in December 2009 than a year previously.
The report notes that in December 2009, there were 2.262 million people covered by private health insurance, down from 2.299 million a year previously.
In December 2009, a total of 50.7 per cent of the population had private health insurance. However, in December 2008 the figure was 51.8 per cent.
The authority said that the numbers covered had been declining gradually since the beginning of 2009 by 0.3 per cent or about 9,100 per quarter.
It said that there was a reduction of about 5,000 in the number insured in the fourth quarter of 2009.
“In addition there has been a trend to switch to lower-cost plans in 2009,” it noted.
The authority declined yesterday to provide details of membership levels for the various companies operating in the market.