Written answers

Wednesday, 23 November 2016

Department of Health

Health Insurance Prices

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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183. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department, or a body under its aegis, has considered any proposals for improving pricing transparency for private health insurance; and his views on whether the opacity of pricing in the sector has a negative impact on the cost of health insurance for households. [36490/16]

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Insurance companies operate as commercial providers and as Minister for Health, I have no legal power to intervene in relation to any insurer’s prices. We have a highly competitive health insurance market. Many consumers can make savings on their health insurance premiums by reviewing their level of cover to ensure that their needs are being met, without being over-insured.

The independent regulator the Health Insurance Authority provides information to consumers regarding their rights and also on health insurance plans and benefits. The Authority’s website has a plan comparison tool and it can be accessed at www.hia.ie. It allows people to view and compare the benefits and prices of all private health insurance plans available on the market. All of the health insurers provide a number of lower cost plans, affording consumers the opportunity to find value in the market and to access the level of cover appropriate to their individual or family needs.

The number of inpatient plans on sale in the market by the four open membership insurers has decreased in the last year with 352 inpatient private health insurance plans on the Product Register on 1 October 2016 (excluding restricted undertakings). This is a decrease of 52 plans since 4 December 2015. The Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2016 clarifies the circumstances when an insurer can withdraw a product and seeks to ensure that people are offered a replacement product with at least the same level of benefits.

The Central Bank has consumer protection oversight of all open market insurers. Earlier this year it conducted a thematic inspection resulting in new requirements for providers to enhance the content and presentation of the information contained in policy renewal notices. Insurers are required to clearly explain to consumers that their policy will auto-renew on to the same policy if they do not contact their insurer prior to their renewal date. Secondly they are required to encourage consumers to make contact during the renewal process to ensure the provider assesses if there are more suitable policies available.

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