THE VHI’S more than 1.3 million subscribers were dealt a further blow yesterday when the company announced its intention to increase prices by an average of 9 per cent from the middle of next month.
It is the third price increase from the State’s largest private health insurer in 14 months and will add nearly €300 to the annual cost of insuring a family of two adults and two children and more than €180 to the cost of a policy for some individuals.
Older people are once again being asked to bear the brunt of the increases, with the most popular plans among the over-60s set to climb 12.5 per cent from March 17th.
In January 2011 the cost of the Plan B Options policy, now known as HealthPlus Extra, stood at €986 for an adult. The VHI announced a 45 per cent increase that month which took the cost to €1,429. It rolled out a further 2 per cent increase in November which saw the price rise to €1,461 and the latest increase in the policy will see it climb to €1,644, 65 per cent higher than it was at the beginning of last year.
The VHI claimed the price hikes were unavoidable and said older customers “continue to be significantly loss-making”. It warned that “until such time as a comprehensive risk equalisation scheme is introduced which makes it as attractive to insure an older, sicker person as a younger, healthier person” the market would continue to segment.
The insurer’s chief executive, Declan Moran, said the sole purpose of the increase was to cover its customers’ healthcare costs in the coming year. He said the company was losing money and the price increases were essential “to ensure the organisation is sustainable”.
Mr Moran claimed the company was “acutely aware of the enormous financial pressures facing our customers” and he insisted it had endeavoured to keep the price increases on its plans as low as possible.
Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher described the increases as “extremely disappointing” and said it was “shocking” that the highest increases had been reserved for older people.
Stephen McMahon of the Irish Patients’ Association expressed dismay at the increases and said they were higher than he had anticipated. He called for greater transparency in the sector for consumers to be able to understand how increases on that scale could be justified.