It has been revealed in a new report, that the number of people taking out private health insurance has dropped.

Experts have stated that over the past two decades, consumers buying health insurance policies has decreased. Recently, premiums have stopped due to the recession and customers wishing to save money.

As a result, the number of people with health cover fell in the first quarter of 2009, for the first time since 2001.

There were 13,000 fewer people covered by private health insurance in March this year than there were the previous December.

The Health Insurance Authority (HIA), warned that demand for health insurance coverage was strongly connected to employment levels in the economy and that the position was likely to drop further in the months ahead.

"It is very probable that the economic crisis and the resulting major fall in employment will lead to a fall in numbers with health insurance even allowing for intense marketing activity and other determining factors.

"The most reasonable projection is that the falling quarterly trend will gather pace as the year progresses and continue into 2010 when account is taken of recent economic forecasts," the report stated.