The government has been told to cut the amount of money health insurers are charged for public hospital beds.

That is the view of the CEO of the Mater Private who was commenting on news that over 50,000 people have been forced to drop their policies in the past year.

Fergus Clancy says health insurance is no longer affordable, because insurers are being forced to hike premiums to pay the HSE.

He told Breakfast here on Newstalk that the government needs to cut charges or more people will be forced to cancel policies.

It comes after figures yesterday showed another fall in the number of people with private health insurance.

Figures from the Health Insurance Authority (HSA) show 21,000 people dropped their cover between December and March of this year.

There are now 47,000 fewer people with private health insurance than at the same time last year.