Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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170. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which data are collected on the level of benefits covered by medical insurance policies; and the way in which this varies over time. [52558/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Health Insurance Authority (HIA) is the statutory regulator of the private health insurance market, one of whose principle functions is to maintain the register of health insurance contracts. The HIA monitors market developments to ensure that new products meet minimum benefit requirements. These requirements ensure that all consumers obtain an appropriate minimum level of health insurance cover regardless of what plan they purchase and that every plan available is inclusive of a minimum suite of benefits and procedures.

There are 313 health insurance products currently in the market, a significant decrease from the 343 plans available in July 2016. While each product has a specific set of benefits, over and above the minimum benefits, there are two main categories of plans – advanced (90% of the market) and non-advanced (10%). The HIA regularly publishes analysis of market developments, including the proportion of advanced to non-advanced plans, in reports available on their website www.hia.ie.