New figures show that around 1,000 people a week left the private health insurance market between July and the end of September.
The figures from the Health Insurance Authority show 12,000 people gave up their private health insurance in the period.
Since December 2008, 123,000 people have left the market.
Figures from the HIA show that 2.174m had in-patient private health insurance plans at the end of September.
