The surging rate of health insurance costs in Ireland “seems set to continue” into the new year, an insurance expert has warned. 

In 2025, health insurance customers became used to their provider emailing them to inform them that the cost of their plan was rising well above the general rate of inflation. 

For one specific plan, customers found the price had jumped by an eyewatering 27%. 

On Late Breakfast, Health Insurance Ireland spokesperson Dermot Goode said there are a variety of reasons behind the surge. 

“The rate of medical inflation, which is really what impacts our medical premium, depending on who you speak to, it can be anything from 8 to 10%,” he said. 

“While we were hoping for some respite earlier this year, it looks like all the cost drivers impacting the delivery of healthcare, they just continue to rise. 

“There’s labour costs, utilities, hospital charges, consultants’ fees - everything just continues to increase.” 

A man talks with a doctor in his office. Picture by: Bill Cheyrou / Alamy Stock Photo.

Mr Goode continued that demand for private health insurance has also increased - something which inevitably sends pries rising. 

“Consumers, you know, they're pretty much shifting in terms of they're not going to the public system anymore,” he said. 

“So, anybody with private health insurance, and you could argue quite rightly, because this is what they're paying for, they're now going to the private system to get all those diagnostics and those basic and simple treatments done. 

“Because that's where they can select the hospital, the consultant, the time of treatment and so on.”

However, while capacity in the private system has recently increased, Mr Goode does not expect it will reign in prices next year. 

“It does look like, not just in Ireland, universally, the cost of delivering healthcare is a multiple of what we see of the normal rate of inflation,” he said. 

“And that trend seems set to continue.”

Main image: Doctors talks with a young patient. Picture by: Alamy.com