Minister of State at the Department of Health John Moloney has called on the VHI to delay price increases for a few months until the legislation dealing with community rating has been published.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, the Minister said it was quite obvious the increases were an attempt by the VHI to make sure legislation was brought forward.
He said it was the responsibility of the Government to deal with the level of public concern and he said legislation would be ready in two to three months, whichever parties were in Government.
Meanwhile, the VHI has confirmed that it will increase premiums on corporate plans.
The change will be effective from the beginning of March, but the level of increase has not been decided yet.
The news comes in the wake of significant increases for private customers earlier this week.
Since then many consumer advisers, including the Health Insurance Authority, have said customers might find better value by switching to corporate plans, which are also available to private customers.
