The €80 charge to stay in hospital overnight could soon be scrapped, the Government has announced. 

Currently, anyone in Ireland without insurance or a medical card is charged €80 per night - rising to €100 for those without a GP referral. However, a spokesperson for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told the Irish Times that the “Minister would like to abolish inpatient and day case charges in 2023, subject to funding. We’ve started with paediatrics this year”.

Such a change could cost taxpayers between €30-50 million and Dermot Goode from  Totalhealthcover.ie described it as “small money” in the grand scheme of things: 

“The only thing that I’d be worried about is that it’s rare that we see the HSE giving up income,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“The Minister in his statement has stated that if they bring this in next year it will be subject to funding… but if it does happen it’s good news for consumers. 

“Those people with no insurance will not have to pay that €80 per night charge which is [capped] at €800 per year for adults and children without medical cards.” 

On the issue of how much this will impact the cost of health insurance in Ireland, Mr Goode said he did not believe it would have huge impact on the market: 

“Minimal if any difference,” he continued. 

“Because first of all in the overall scheme of things in terms of claims it’s a very small portion of claims number one. 

“Number two, the insurance companies will be waiting to see what the detail is on this. 

“So for example they might stop or they might eliminate these charges but they could increase other charges.” 

Last year an estimated 46.7% of Irish people had private health insurance, while in 2020 31.8% had medical cards.

Main image: Woman recovering in a hospital room bed. Picture by: Alamy.com