THE NUMBER of people covered by private health insurance is continuing to fall, new figures reveal.
The figures drawn up by the Health Insurance Authority – the regulator for the sector – show that at the end of June there were 2.233 million health insurance subscribers with plans covering inpatient treatment in hospitals.
This represents a reduction of 10,000 on the figures for the previous three months.
The Health Insurance Authority report also reveals that there were around 40,000 fewer people covered by private health insurance in Ireland at the end of June than at the same period in 2009.
The figures for June 2010 show that just slightly over half of the population – 50.1 per cent – had private health insurance cover. This compares to 51 per cent of the population a year previously.
The number of people covered by private health insurance has been declining gradually since the beginning of 2009.
Figures produced by the Department of Health last May revealed that at the end of last year the State-owned VHI had around 65 per cent of the private health insurance market. The Department of Health report said Quinn Healthcare had just under 24 per cent of the market, while Aviva had just under 11 per cent.
In May the Government announced plans for a radical shake-up of the sector, including a substantial capital injection into the VHI to allow it to achieve authorisation by the financial regulator. The company would subsequently be sold.
The Government said at the end of May that it would be appointing financial advisers to advise on these issues. A spokesman for the Minister for Health Mary Harney said yesterday that the process of engaging the financial advisers was continuing.