Health insurer Level Health to raise prices by 4.5% on average

Other health insurance providers have already increased their prices this year. File picture

Health insurance firm Level Health has announced that it will increase the price of its plans by an average of 4.5% from December 1.

The company said customers who take out a policy or renew their policy any time between now and December will not be subject to the price increase for the next 12 months.

Level Health is one of the smaller health insurance providers in the State. As of the end of June, it held 1.4% of the market in Ireland, according to the Health Insurance Authority.

Chief executive of Level Health Jim Dowdall said the company is “acutely aware of the rising cost-of-living pressures faced by households, and we work hard to keep any increase in the cost of our health insurance plans as low as possible”.

“These price increases are necessary to cover the increased cost of healthcare, which continues to increase year on year.” 

According to the company, its “Plan A” option price will not increase and will stay at €419.88 a year for anyone 26 and over. However, all the rest of the plans will see increases.

Level Health is a joint venture with Aviva Insurance Ireland which also underwrites all Level Health policies.

Other health insurance providers have already increased their prices this year. The most recent of which came from VHI who increased their premiums by 2.75% at the beginning of October — their second price increase so far this year.