{"id":261854,"date":"2026-01-28T13:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261854\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:03:09","slug":"health-insurer-vhi-announces-fresh-price-hike-averaging-3-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/261854\/","title":{"rendered":"Health insurer VHI announces fresh price hike averaging 3% \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/vhi\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/vhi\/\">Health insurer VHI<\/a> has announced a price hike which will see the cost of some family policies climb by in excess of \u20ac400 a year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The State\u2019s largest health insurance provider said the average price increase across its policies would be 3 per cent with the hike set to come into effect from March 1st.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Anyone with a renewal date before then will not be impacted by the increase until early next year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The company said the increase was necessary \u201cto ensure that we continue to meet the healthcare needs of our members\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">In a statement it said the cost of delivering healthcare \u201ccontinues to rise as more people access essential healthcare services and the cost of providing those services increases\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The statement said that last year it saw private hospital claims costs rise by approximately 13 per cent and the volume of private hospital claims increase by approximately 8 per cent compared to 2024, reflecting the continued increase in demand and the higher cost of delivering care. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-it-article-body__interstitial-link\">[\u00a0<a aria-label=\"Open related story\" class=\"c-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/business\/2025\/12\/23\/level-health-plays-the-grinch-with-festive-price-rise\/\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Level Health plays the Grinch with festive price riseOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"> Increasing costs across the healthcare sector both in Ireland and internationally are being driven by factors such as medical inflation, an ageing population, and the introduction of new drugs, technologies, and procedures, the statement added.  \u201cWe have seen an increase in the number of members accessing healthcare and this increased demand contributes to higher healthcare costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The company said that its AdvancedCare Day to Day plan for two adults and two children would be climbing from \u20ac6,523.44 annually to \u20ac6,946.57 a monthly increase of \u20ac35.26 while the cost of its FirstCare 500 Day-to-Day plan for a family is to go up from \u20ac2,473.96 to \u20ac2,604.45, a month increase of \u20ac10.87. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image audio_image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1754647931518-c07d65db-55b5-463e-ae51-976300c5837e.jpeg\"\/>Old order \u2018not coming back\u2019 as Trump overshadows World Economic Forum<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Managing director of VHI Aaron Keogh said that while the biggest contributors to overall claims costs continue to be cancer care, orthopaedic treatments, cardiac care, digestive conditions and psychiatric care, its members \u201chave access to healthcare in more ways than ever before, not only in hospitals but also through day care and ambulatory settings.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He said the \u201crising demand for healthcare and the increasing cost of delivering it mean that we must adjust our pricing accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">He recognised that health insurance is \u201ca significant financial outlay for our members, so we will continue to provide a range of plans at different price points to suit differing needs and budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">It is the third time in the last 12 months that the company has increased its prices with all the other leading providers rolling out multiple price increases over the same period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cIn line with previous years, this increase was expected, as VHI typically reviews their rates in March and October each year,\u201d said Dermot Goode of healthinsuranceireland.ie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cAs always, consumers need to be cautious with these average figures, as the actual increase could be significantly higher depending on the plan held. Fortunately, many consumers who renewed their cover in January and February will avoid this latest price hike. However, those renewing from March onwards will be facing two increases from VHI: this latest increase and the price change from last October.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Addressing the latest price increase the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) said that while \u201cinsurers set prices based on factors such as medical inflation, claims costs and increased demand for healthcare, affordability must remain a priority\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The authority\u2019s chief executive Brian Lee said that it was \u201ccommitted to providing consumers with clear, impartial information so they can make confident decisions about their cover. It\u2019s a good idea to review your health insurance annually, as switching or adjusting your plan can lead to meaningful savings. Our free comparison tool can help you find the best value based on your needs.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Health insurer VHI has announced a price hike which will see the cost of some family policies climb&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[137732,163,521,85,46,87970],"class_list":{"0":"post-261854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-cyril-byrne","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-mam"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}