Around one million private health insurance customers renew their policies between December and February. The first of those will start receiving their renewal notices about a month from now.
They would do well to set aside some time to consider their options.
The state of Ireland’s public health service is the most effective marketing campaign any private health insurer could hope for. Once you actually get in the door, most people have nothing but good to say about the experience but you can be an awfully long time waiting for that access, as almost weekly stories in national and local media highlight.
As a result, many people consider the generally quick access in time of need under private health insurance more an essential than a luxury. But the cost of that peace of mind is rising sharply.
Private health insurers tend to drip-feed their premium increases across the year. It makes them seem less intimidating.
However, customers of each of the three players in the Irish markets have seen double-digit “average” increases this year that will come home to roost at renewal. These range from 10.35 per cent at Irish Life to almost 14 per cent at Laya Healthcare.
And averages can hide a lot, as industry expert Dermot Goode noted on Monday as he warned consumers of a triple whammy coming their way.
Regardless of the average, Lockton Insurance Brokers’ Goode noted that some customers will face increases of 25 per cent on premiums that already run to four figures.
Worse still, they could be hit with additional charges that could significantly affect their coverage and costs. Insurers have begun capping refunds for GP visits, consultant fees and alternative therapies, while also increasing excesses for private hospital treatments.
“These changes mean that consumers will now have to pay more out of pocket for less coverage,” Goode noted.
And then there is the retirement by providers of some of their most popular plans – including about 150,000 VHI HealthPlus (formerly Plan B) policyholders and those on any of 24 discontinued Laya policies – with those customers finding themselves almost inevitably defaulted to more expensive policies
All too often – befuddled by the sheer number of policy options, people simply choose to hit “renew”. This might be the year to make the time to consider other options.
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