We are back to the “bad old days” of multiple small increases in health insurance premiums, an expert has warned.

Consumers could face increases of between €300 and €600 when they renew their private health insurance plan this month.

Some of the country’s poorest households are spending nearly a tenth of their disposable income on private health care, despite having medical cards.

It will cost €6.6bn to remove private healthcare from public hospitals — but there is no information in an independent review group report on how this bill will be paid.

Having the right health insurance coverage is becoming more important for customers than the cost, the Health Insurance Authority has found.

Fianna Fáil is calling on the Government to address the spiralling cost of health insurance.

Consumers need to be careful now and start shopping around again well in advance of the renewal of their health insurance cover, a health insurance expert has warned.

VHI is increasing its premiums by an average of 6%.

Next month marks four years since then-Minister for Health Leo Varadkar introduced Lifetime Community Rating (LCR) into the health insurance market, in order to encourage people to take out private cover.

New research has found that two in three people with health insurance are potentially on the wrong plan.

The number of people with private health insurance has increased to 43%.

Older people are being urged to shop around for their health insurance.

The Government is to decrease some levies on health insurers, which will be seen as a positive move for those paying private health insurance.

Consumer advice with Gráinne McGuinness

Price reductions along with enhanced day-to-day cover, lower excesses and new product benefits across a range of plans have been announced by the State’s health insurer.

The health insurer will also reduce the child rates on 27 plans from next month.

The number of people with private health insurance has risen for two years in a row, with trends showing a further 30,000 covered by inpatient plans last year than in 2015.

Health insurance will cost 50% more over the next 10 years — with the average premium increasing from €1,200 to €1,800 to meet the cost of increasing claims from older members.

Older people invariably pay more than any other age group for health insurance and older people are more likely to be unaware of corporate plans available, writes Gráinne McGuinness.

€600 could be added to the average health insurance premium.

Private health insurance premiums rose almost 8% over the past year. Premiums were 7.7% higher last month, compared to January 2016, according to the latest Consumer Price Index from the Central Statistics Office.

Laya, the country’s second-largest health insurer, posted a 22% increase in profits in 2015, but faced increased claims from public hospitals last year.

Consumers have been warned to expect double-digit premium hikes on their health insurance in 2017.

Health Minister Simon Harris is delusional if he thinks that private health insurers will not pass on any increases in their costs to customers. His department has just written to insurers to advise them that the Government is to raise the health insurance levy by 10% from next April.

Update 12.40pm: The Managing director of health insurer Irish Life, which took over Glo and Aviva Health recently, has said that the Government is forcing them to pay for public care.

Health insurance customers should prepare themselves for a significant jump in premiums, an expert has warned.

The country's largest health insurer has warned that the rising cost of claims is threatening the private system.

Consumers face higher insurance prices if “excessive” personal injury payouts — sometimes three times higher than those in England and Wales for similar injuries — are not tackled, a business group has warned.

For the first time in eight years, the VHI recorded an increase in membership in 2015, a year which saw a €9m reduction in its after-tax surplus, from €54.5m in 2014 to €45.5m.

Universal health insurance has been effectively scrapped after the newly appointed Health Minister Simon Harris has been told it is too costly to implement.

There was a slight decrease in average private health insurance premiums last year, it has emerged.

Consumers are shooting themselves in the foot by not shopping around for health insurance, a financial expert has warned.

A health insurance expert has warned of more health insurance hikes in January and says that failure to shop around could prove very costly, especially for families.

Irish people have to spend more of their household budget on health than most other countries and are more likely to go without medical and dental care, according to a survey of the world’s most developed economies.