LAYA Healthcare has followed rivals Vhi and Irish Life Health in announcing a price rise.
he health insurer is increasing the cost of premiums by 4.4pc from the start of April for its 675,000 customers.
It is the first rise in two years, Laya said.
Health insurance broker Dermot Goode of TotalHealthCover.ie said the rises will mean an extra cost of between €60 and €230 a year for a family of two adults and two children, depending on the plan they are on.
Vhi Healthcare is to hit its 1.1 million customers with a 4.8cp premium price rise from the start of March.
For those Vhi customers renewing from March the annual costs, for a family of two adults and two children, will be between €60 and €250 more a year.
Irish Life Health increased the cost of its plans for those renewing or taking out a new plan from the start of January.
The Irish Life hikes mean the cost of health cover will rise by between €80 a year and €170 for a family of two adults and two children.
The increases mark a turnaround after Vhi and Laya and Irish Life had stalled price rises and instead had paid rebates as private healthcare facilities saw a fall-off in use during the lockdowns.
Laya managing director Dónal Clancy said this is the first price increase in two years and comes after a sustained period of price stability in recent years.
He said prudent claim cost management and Covid-19 related disruption in the health system allowed Laya to pay rebates to member.
These worked out at up to €750 per family, Mr Clancy said.
“We regularly review our products and prices to ensure that we’re providing great value and an exceptional customer experience to our 675,000 members, giving them access to more hospitals, consultants and urgent care.
“To ensure we’re serving the current and future healthcare needs of our members, our pricing needs to meet the rising cost of healthcare that we’re seeing across the board.”
Lay said medical inflation remains high, at around 8.5pc.
This is being compounded by a significant acceleration in the cost of delivering healthcare, notably energy and staffing costs, and pent-up demand for healthcare following Covid-related delays.
“While better medical practices, high-spec technology and improved treatments are all translating into better patient outcomes, they continue to drive medical costs higher, which in turn is having a sustained impact on premiums,” Mr Clancy said.
