VHI has announced it is increasing the price on a range of its plans by an average of 2% from May.
The cost of the health insurer's 'Smart Plan' will rise from €464.71 to €474.01 annually (€0.78 per month), while the 'One Plan 250' will be €2.27 more expensive per month - with the annual cost increasing from €889.21 to €916.44.
Meanwhile, the 'One Plan Starter' will see a €0.79 monthly increase and will cost €570.70 from the beginning of May.
The health insurer said the rise "is necessary in order to cover the costs of new technologies, new drugs and new procedures as well as rising claims costs in public hospitals".
This is the second price increase announced by VHI for its plans in the past six months, after a 3% rise was flagged last September before coming into effect in November.
VHI has more than one million customers in the Irish market.
Director of Marketing and Business Development at the VHI Declan Moran said the company "worked hard to keep the price increase as low as possible but need to ensure that our plans continue to deliver new and innovative benefits to our customers".
