Laya ups price of 65 of its policies by average of 4.7%
Laya Healthcare is increasing the prices of 65 of its health insurance policies by an average of 4.7%, which it said is the equivalent of around €80 per adult annually.
The price hikes will take effect from the start of April.
Laya said the increases "reflect rising healthcare costs and will apply to members from the date of their next renewal".
The provider, which has more than 700,000 customers, said prices will remain unchanged on 37 of its plans while it is retiring 16 of its older plans.
Laya said "affected members will be mapped to suitable and better value alternative plans at renewal", however, the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) said "policyholders do not have to move to the plan offered as a replacement".
"They are free to move to any plan on the market," the HIA added.
This is the healthcare provider's third price increase in the space of a year.
Last October it raised its prices by an average of 4.5%, and in April 2025 policies were hiked by an average of 6.6%.
Director of Health Insurance Ireland Dermot Goode estimates the latest increase from Laya "will cost anything from €62 - €217 for one adult depending on the plan held".
"Looking at some of their mid-level schemes, this could cost a typical family an extra €148-€203 for the year," he added.
The health insurance broker said "while some plans will not increase, we understand that the highest increase on certain plans will be up to 9%".
"Consumers need to be wary of the following: ignore the average figures and check the actual impact on your plan, and remember there could be more than one increase coming your way as rates also went up last October," Mr Goode added.
The price-rise announcement from Laya follows similar increases already this year from Vhi, Irish Life Health and Level Health.
Mr Goode told RTÉ's Drivetime that "the days of just looking at the premium are gone".
He said Laya is saying the reason behind the hike is that the volume of claims and the cost of claims coming from private hospitals is increasing by 10% to 15%.
Mr Goode said buried in this is that some plans will not go up at all but others will go up nearly 10%.
He said it looks like people are bypassing the public system and going to the private system, which he said "is what they pay for".
"But it also looks like with all the cost of those claims, those insurance companies are really struggling to get a handle on those costs."
He referenced extra capacity going into private hospitals, which he said are expanding their size due to a huge demand.
"If you want to keep the same level of cover, the days of budgeting for 5% are gone. We really need to be budgeting for 10% per year," he said.
Mr Goode said the health insurers have hiked their prices one after another in the last two or three years, like clockwork, typically with Irish Life in January, VHI in March and Laya in April.
"They all tend to repeat that in October," he said, adding that it looks like this year is going to follow the same pattern.
He said there are many new plans coming on stream, stressing that if you put them under pressure, "you will be able to find another plan with similar benefits, cheaper".
'People will be asked to technically pay more for less cover'
Mr Goode added: "I have to say what is very worrying about the benefit changes… there are about 30 plans here, some of Laya’s most popular schemes, that they are now going to the benefits. People will be asked to technically pay more for less cover.
He described this as "very concerning". He said a lot of people who may have been happy with their cover "will have no option but to shop around".
He said there are people that are fully covered with Laya that may have to pay considerably more to keep that cover in place or maybe change provider.
However, he said there is another category of people who currently have a shortfall [the amount of treatment that is not covered] of 20%, which will double to 40%.
He said these people could be able to keep their shortfall at 20% with some other providers.
"The scale of the benefit changes has taken us by surprise."
