VHI Healthcare says it will probably have to increase its premiums by at least 6-7% per year for the next ten years to keep up with the increasing health needs of its customers.
Launching the company's annual report for 2009, Chief Executive Jimmy Tolan said VHI lost 120,000 customers last year.
The health insurer has reported a loss of €41.7m after tax for 2009.
This compared with a deficit of €65m for the ten months to the end of 2008.
VHI said it was currently losing €170m a year in meeting the healthcare needs of its older customers.
It claimed the current mechanism to protect older health insurance customers was 'only 40% effective' and needed to be strengthened.
VHI's income from premiums was up 6.8% from 2008 to €1.3bn, but it spent more than €1.34bn on claims, which was up 14% on the previous year.
