Earlier this month, in what is becoming a wearyingly familiar move, one of the companies offering private health insurance announced a price hike. However, how it has been portrayed has left one of our readers scratching their head.
The three main companies have been on an upward price spiral over the last couple of years and the latest provider to hit their customers with this was Laya Healthcare.
It announced its plan to increase its prices by an average of 4.5 per cent from the beginning of October.
The second largest health insurance operator in the State has more than 700,000 customers, and as is the way, it blamed higher demand for private and high-tech healthcare and said that new advances in medical technology were increasing costs.
RM Block
The increase comes on top of an increase in premiums of 6.6 per cent at the beginning of April and a 6.5 per cent increase in October 2024. To save you doing the totting up, we can tell you that amounts to an increase of 17.6 per cent.
While an increase of 17.6 per cent in a year is pretty savage, one of our readers who has insurance cover reports that the real story over a longer period is a whole lot worse – at least for some policyholders.
“I have had a Simply Connect Plus policy with Laya for many years,” Alan says. “In 2023, I paid a premium of €1,621.13. In 2024, I paid €1,951.65, and last month I was quoted €2,433.87 – all for the same policy.”
He notes that it represents an increase of 20.4 per cent last year and 24.7 per cent this year, with the jump from €1,621 to €2,434 coming in at just over 50 per cent.
Alan wrote to Laya requesting an explicit explanation for the price increase of 50 per cent between 2023 and now.
[ Average cost of health insurance jumps to almost €2,000Opens in new window ]
He received a response from the company, which said there were “several reasons for this increase”.
He said the person who responded to his query “refers obliquely to a product review across all schemes, an increase in demand for healthcare among our ageing population and members accessing more healthcare services than ever before. Nothing granular to explain the magnitude of the price increase”.
Alan says he is “fully aware that the cost of healthcare is rising and that health insurance premium costs will inevitably increase as a consequence. What I cannot understand and what Laya failed to explain is how Laya can justify a 50 per cent price increase in the last two years. I also cannot reconcile this with the figures that Laya is quoting. Perhaps you might be able to obtain a greater insight than Laya has been willing to give me”.
In response, Laya’s managing director D.O. O’Connor said that the company knows “cost is front of mind for consumers”.
He said: “Advances in medical technology and new therapies are improving outcomes for our members, but they are also driving the highest healthcare costs we’ve seen in 25 years.”
He said the Simply Connect Plus plan offers “full cover” for specified orthopaedic procedures as well as money back on everyday expenses like “GPs and physios and much more”.
“From 1st October, we’re retiring 10 plans to make way for new competitively priced plans, giving members more choice and flexibility to match cover to their budget and care preferences.”
We are not entirely convinced that answers our reader’s query but it is what it is.
It is also worth noting that Laya is not alone in hiking prices. The cost of private health insurance has jumped sharply, with average prices of almost €2,000 per person. That represents an increase of almost €200 compared with the average price the Health Information Authority (HIA) recorded in 2024.
The HIA stressed at the time that there were steps consumers could take to save money and noted that “shopping around is the best way to save money on health insurance ... and we recommend reviewing your plan now to see what you’re covered for and what you actually use”.
The authority encouraged those who are happy with their current providers to look at what other plans they have that might be more suitable, while also being more affordable.
And it noted that some plans that have been on the market for a long time “don’t offer as much value as newer plans [and] just by shopping around, consumers could find a plan with very similar benefits for a lower price”.
It also encouraged consumers to consider increasing the hospital excesses on their policies
“This is the amount that you pay each time you are admitted into a private hospital. If you’re in good health, looking for a plan with a higher excess can be a good way to save money.”
And it said people could consider reviewing their plans and reducing cover for benefits they don’t use.
