For the fourth time since the beginning of this year, Irish Life Health has announced a price rise, which will kick in on January 1st. There could be two reasons why Irish Life Health would need to go to the well four times in the space of a year. The way Irish Life Health – and to be fair to it, most of its rivals – rolls out its price hikes is absurd. Health insurance companies are clearly reluctant to announce price increases of 10, 12 or 15 per cent once a year. [ Health insurance watchdog plans to increase levy by 10%Opens in new window ]It also seems that health insurers are not overly concerned their prices will climb too high and result in huge numbers of people exiting the market.
