Health insurer announces premium reduction and refund for customers in Carlow

Health insurer VHI is to reduce the cost of its premiums and refund money to its policyholders in Carlow and across Ireland, it has been announced.

A typical family is expected to save €490 over a year due to a combination of the price cuts and the rebates.

VHI has also confirmed that it is to refund between €75 and €300 per adult due to a fall in claims.

VHI chief executive Declan Moran said the health insurer was unique in the market by taking the step to waive a portion of premiums.

“This third waiver of premium means we will have returned €450m back to our customers.”

This waiver will expected to range from €25 to €100 per child, depending on the customer’s health insurance plan.

VHI said it will have returned €450m to customers since the start of the pandemic.

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The health insurer said it was honouring a promise it made to its customers that if claims were lower than anticipated due to Covid, VHI would return additional value to its customers.

The premium waiver will range from a minimum of €75 per adult and €25 per child for those on public hospital only plans, up to a maximum of €300 per adult and €100 per child for those on the plans with the highest level of cover.

All customers who have a health insurance policy with VHI on May 1 will be eligible for the premium waiver, it said.

“As we all know, the Covid-19 pandemic utterly changed how healthcare was delivered and accessed over the past two years. Public health was, correctly, prioritised and the healthcare system as a whole played a vital role in supporting the needs of people in Ireland during these difficult times," Mr Moran said.

"The impact, however, was that access to both planned and critical care was limited and challenging. At Vhi we responded rapidly and leveraged digital platforms to transform the delivery of our services through eHealth where possible.

"This has worked well and there are many changes that will remain permanent features of our offering, however, for many, there is no replacement for a consultant visit or a hospital stay. The ability to provide access to our customers to healthcare settings has been severely limited and as a result, claims are down," Mr Moran said.