AVIVA HEALTH INSURANCE has announced that it will increase its premiums by an average of 4 per cent on a range of plans from 31 March this year.
The company said that many of its plans would not see a premium increase and put the 4 per cent rise down to the impact of legislative changes coupled with the rising cost of claims.
Aviva said legislation recently approved by the Oireachtas raised the health insurance levy by up to 26.3 per cent. The cost of claims paid by Aviva also increased by 29 per cent in 2012 compared to 2011.
Managing Director, Alison Burns said the company is “acutely aware that many customers are struggling to meet the cost of their health insurance”.
“That is why we have minimised increases on all plans and there are no increases on many of our entry level plans,” she said.
The company said that in addition to this, claims costs for some treatments have seen significant increases. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy claims have increased by 37.5 per cent, while the cost of non-surgical admissions claims have increased by 48.3 per cent.
Under the new legislation which comes into effect from 31 March, every health insurance plan in Ireland must be categorised as either ‘advanced’ or ‘non-advanced’ according to its level of private hospital cover.
Plans in the advanced category have a levy of €350 while non-advanced plans attract a levy of €290.
Aviva said that to comply with this legislation and “continue to offer affordable options”, changes to some benefits on our entry level plans are required.
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