Irish consumers slam health insurance cost

According to recent reports, increases in private health insurance cost is not justified by consumers, in Ireland at least. A new study by the Health Insurance Authority found that increasing costs of medical insurance prompts concern in one in ten customers, with some 40% disagreeing that price increases are justified.

The chief executive of the HIA, Liam Sloyan, made it clear that Ireland is a competitive private medical insurance market. Sloyan was reported as commenting: There are choices out there and if people are dissatisfied they can look around.

Switching health insurance means searching the market for a more competitive provider and choosing a new medical insurance policy . The HIA found that one in ten of those surveyed had switched health insurance recently.

The Irish health insurance market is dominated by three companies, VHI, Vivas Health and Quinn Direct.