Laya Healthcare to increase cost of health insurance for second time this year

Laya Healthcare managing director DO O’Connor said that a product review was "necessary" to meet the evolving healthcare needs of its more than 700,000 members. Picture: Andres Poveda

Laya Healthcare is to increase the price of its health insurance polices by an average of 4.5% from the start of October.

It is Laya's second price increase in 2025, after hiking its policies by an average of 6.6% in April.

It also plans to retire ten of its existing policies.

Affected customers will be contacted directly by the insurance provider to offer alternative plans providing similar benefits. 

Laya Healthcare managing director DO O’Connor said that a product review was "necessary" to meet the evolving healthcare needs of its more than 700,000 members. 

Demand for health services is at "an all-time high," he added. "Particularly in the private and hi-tech hospital settings where we’re seeing a 14.8% increase in 2025 claim costs, year-to-date, when compared to last year. 

While advances in medical technology and new therapies are delivering welcome improvements in health outcomes for our members, this comes at the highest cost we’ve seen in over 25 years.

However, health insurance expert Dermot Goode pointed out that as the average of the latest increase is 4.5% "members need to be wary of these average figures as the actual increase on their plan may be significantly higher".

He said consumers should never just accept the increase,  and do not allow cover to auto-renew.

"Members have 6 weeks now to engage with the insurer to source alternative cover. Always disclose your budget and challenge the insurer to find you similar cover that fits this."