Consumers will be reminded of their right to change health insurance plans without penalty in a new national information campaign by the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) starting today.

In radio and press adverts, the authority will emphasise consumers' rights to switch insurer without having to sit out new waiting periods before they can make a claim.

The HIA is spending a six-figure sum on the adverts, which build on a similar campaign last year in order to encourage competition. Research commissioned by the authority shows that only 1 per cent of consumers switch health insurance providers each year. Almost 40 per cent of policyholders are unaware that they would not have to serve additional waiting periods if they switch, according to HIA chief executive Liam Sloyan.

"A new insurance provider cannot impose any additional waiting period on a new customer provided there is no gap in their cover when transferring, or the gap is less than 13 weeks, and the customer is not upgrading to a higher level of cover," Mr Sloyan said.

Some 2.2 million people in the Republic have private health insurance and the market is dominated by State-owned insurer VHI, which has 1.55 million customers. Saving money is the main reason people switch health insurer, the HIA has found.