Up to 100 new jobs will be created in Cork over the next three years by new private health insurance company Laya Healthcare.

HARD figures on the amount of tax relief that goes unclaimed every year are not easy to find.

Hard-pressed families have just hours left to decide on whether they must switch or cancel their health insurance coverage, as premiums for all three insurers are set to rise from tomorrow.

Households considering free health cover for children and teenagers have been urged to check out the fine print.

The surge away from private health insurance is set to increase again, after VHI announced plans to hike its prices by an average of 9% from next month.

THE sheer complexity of health insurance policies is forcing people who could afford to keep their coverage to quit because hidden deals are not being adequately explained by insurers.

Quinn Healthcare’s second major health insurance price hike announcement since the start of this month may force 100,000 more people to quit their coverage before the end of the year, it has been claimed.

Customers of Quinn Healthcare look certain to be hit with a second hike in their premium payments as the company passes on the impact of the recently increased private insurance levy.

HIKES in health insurance will see more young people cancel their policies leaving insurers with more older people which will in turn drive up the cost of premiums, an insurance expert has warned.

UNFORTUNATELY, this latest development couldn’t come at a worse time for health insurance customers.

Quinn Healthcare and Aviva are hitting out at the Government's decision to increase the levy on health insurance policies by almost 40%.

THE future of over 330 jobs at the country’s second-biggest health insurance firm has been secured following a senior management-led buyout.

Health insurer Quinn Healthcare has been sold following a bid by senior management with Swiss Re as underwriter, it was announced today.

AVIVA is set to hike the cost of its insurance coverage for the fourth time in just two years after announcing a 15% price rise that will come into effect in February.

THE number of people treated on hospital trolleys this winter is 25% higher than this time last year — and may grow further if more people cancel their health insurance due to budget-induced price hikes.

VHI customers will have suffered a massive 120% increase in their health insurance cost since the start of the recession if the insurer imposes a threatened 50% budget-induced price rise.

The three main insurance companies are expected to announce price increases in the first quarter of 2012. Consumers can only hope to delay the extra payments, writes Dermot Goode

LESS than a week before they find out the full rigours of the budget, 500,000 customers of Quinn health insurance must prepare for increases of up to €280 in the cost of their family policy.

Quinn Healthcare is to raise its prices by an average of 12%, it has been announced.

A NEW private hospital planned for Cork city looks set to follow the same fate as its doomed predecessor following a VHI decision not to provide cover for its customers at the facility.

IF I TELL the truth about being a judge for this weekend’s People of the Year Awards, they’ll never invite me again.

MORE than 60% of women and 50% of men under 44 are consulting “Dr Google” due to the expense of a GP visit, a survey has found.

Almost half of Ireland's population turn to the internet when looking to diagnose a medical ailment, according to a new survey by Quinn Healthcare.

STRUGGLING people are canceling their health insurance policies in increasing numbers and this is piling pressure on an already congested public hospital system.

HEALTH insurers, weight loss advisers and phone firms have been heavily criticised over their failure to ensure adverts for their products contain full and accurate information.

According to a new survey, 78% of Irish women say that they are struggling more than men when it comes to balancing work and family commitments during the recession.

PLANS for a €70 million super prison for Munster have been put on ‘the long finger’ because of the current state of the Government’s finances.

IRISH Life & Permanent (IL&P) is set to become the new owner of Quinn Healthcare — the latest element of the Quinn Group of businesses set for sale — before the end of the year.

A PRIVATE equity firm with a majority stake in the Mater Private hospital is believed to be one of a number of potential investors in discussions with a new hospital which has had to close because it cannot get VHI approval.

CORK’S TDs are seeking a meeting with the chief executive of Vhi Healthcare next week in a bid to save a private hospital from closure.

IRELAND’S next health minister has been urged to prevent insurers from bleeding people dry after the latest in a series of painful premium hikes were imposed on patients.

THE country’s newest and most advanced private hospital will close within months unless the VHI provides health cover.

CONSUMERS must ‘start looking twice’ at their health insurance premiums from now on to get the best value for money.

SUBSTANTIAL savings can be made on personal health insurance by shopping around and finding the most suitable plan for your personal needs, health insurance experts have advised.

FROM the home to the workplace to the altar the national financial crisis is affecting every facet of life and infertility is no exception.

THE breast clinic at the Bon Secours Hospital in Cork has been awarded the direct payment contract for mammograms by Quinn Healthcare.

MORE than half of Irish women would split their maternity leave with their partner – if they could, new research reveals.

MORE than half of adults avoid visiting their GP because of the cost, a new study reveals.

A 30% reduction in rates on one of its most popular schemes will shave €77 off the cost of insuring a child or student with Quinn Healthcare, the private health insurer claimed.

It will not be necessary to invoke any involuntary compulsory redundancies at Quinn Insurance, it was announced today, following the receipt of applications for voluntary redundancy.

THE Government’s decision to sell the VHI and introduce a new risk equalisation scheme will not stop the surge in the cost of health insurance, an economics expert has warned.

QUINN HEALTHCARE has welcomed the Government’s decision to “resolve the dominant and monopolistic position of the VHI”, saying the move would only strengthen competition in the Irish market.