THE NUMBER of people covered by private health insurance policies in Ireland has fallen for the sixth consecutive quarter.
Data published by the Health Insurance Authority says 2,123,000 people were covered by inpatient health insurance at the end of June – down by 16,000 on the same figure at the end of March.
The number with cover has fallen by 61,000 when compared to the same time in 2011 – and by exactly 100,000 from the same time in 2010.
The latest fall means that the numbers covered by private insurance has fallen in 14 of the last 15 quarters, the period covered by the HIA’s figures.
The first figures published in December 2008 showed 2,297,000 being covered at that point – meaning the numbers with private cover have fallen by 7.6 per cent in the last three-and-a-half years.
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