A campaign to highlight consumers' right to change health insurers has been unveiled by the Health Insurance Authority (HIA).
Print and radio advertisements will show the choices available to consumers and emphasis the fact that consumers can change insurer without penalty.
HIA Chief Executive Liam Sloyan, said: "Many consumers continue to be unaware of their health insurance rights. For example, our research shows that 40 per cent of people are unaware that they have the right to change their plan without penalty."
"Under Irish law people cannot be penalised because of their age or their HIA health status or any other reason when they change their health insurance plan."
He said any new insurance provider cannot impose any additional waiting period on a new customer provided the gap in their cover is less than 13 weeks and the customer is not upgrading to a higher level of cover .