Irish Health Insurance Changes from 1 November 2026: What You Need to Know

What's Changing on 1 November 2026

Plan updates take effect from 1 November 2026 across VHI, Laya, Irish Life and Level Health. We've compared the new tables of benefits with the previous versions, plan by plan, so you don't have to. The headlines: Irish Life is changing how it covers ExpressCare clinic visits, dropping one therapy and adding a new weight loss benefit; prices are up on most plans we have figures for; and VHI is launching a new plan.

One thing that is not changing: we found no changes to orthopaedic or ophthalmic co-payments or shortfalls on any of the plans we reviewed.

Price Changes

These are the plans we have new November prices for. Plans not listed here either weren't priced in this update or haven't changed.

• Laya Essential Connect Health: €248.54 → €269.75 a month (+8.5%, about €255 more a year)
• VHI PMI 32 12: €148.77 → €158.71 a month (+6.7%, about €119 more a year)
• Irish Life ILH A02: €172.09 → €181.53 a month (+5.5%, about €113 more a year)
• Irish Life ILH A01: €154.01 → €157.43 a month (+2.2%, about €41 more a year)
• Irish Life Net Most 500 ILH: €119.76 → €120.53 a month (+0.6%, about €9 more a year)
• Level Health Plan A: €40.67 → €38.88 a month (−4.4%, about €21 less a year) – the only decrease

Irish Life: ExpressCare Clinic Cover Moves to a Flat Excess

Twelve Irish Life plans have changed how they cover visits to an ExpressCare clinic. Instead of paying a percentage of the cost up to a maximum, the plan now covers the visit subject to a flat excess per claim:

• My Plan 150, 350 and 500 (and their Day to Day versions): was 70% up to €200 per visit, now a €50 excess
• HealthAction 1 and 2: was 50% up to €100 per visit, now a €75 excess
• HealthAction 3: was 50% up to €150 per visit, now a €50 excess
• HealthAction 4: was 50% up to €200 per visit, now a €50 excess
• HealthAction 5: was 75% up to €200 per visit, now a €50 excess
• HealthAction 6: was 75% up to €300 per visit, now a €25 excess

What this means for you: whether you're better or worse off depends on what the visit costs. For example, on a €100 visit a My Plan 350 member used to pay €30 (they were covered for 70%) and will now pay €50. On a more expensive visit the flat excess works out better. Overall, cheaper visits cost more under the new terms and dearer ones cost less. HealthAction 6 members, with the lowest excess, come out best.

Irish Life: One Benefit Dropped, One Added

• EXOGEN therapy removed. This bone-healing ultrasound treatment, previously listed as covered through Irish Life's provider partner, no longer appears on any of the 26 Irish Life plans we reviewed.
• New Specialist Weight Loss Support. Full cover for an initial GP assessment, plus 50% cover for six follow-up GP check-ins with Irish Life's preferred provider. It's on 14 plans: 4D Evolution, 4D Future, 4D Health 1 and 2, Be Fit 3, Be Fit Life, Best Ultimate Active ILH, First Cover, First Cover Extra, Horizon 1 to 4, and Net Most 500 ILH.

Smaller changes: Female Pelvic Health Physiotherapy is now called Pelvic Health Physiotherapy; scan benefits (MRI, CT, PET-CT, mammogram and DEXA) now specify approved centres; and HealthAction 4 lists a new psycho-oncology counselling benefit. Irish Life's documents also now point members to hospital lists on its website, so it's worth confirming which hospitals your plan includes.

VHI PMI 32 12

The monthly cost rises from €148.77 to €158.71. The benefit changes are a mix:

• Fertility benefits now renew every year. The consultation, tests, treatment and genetic testing limits that applied per lifetime now apply per renewal year.
• New wellbeing and vaccination benefits: talk and play therapy (including up to €30 per visit for a psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist), general vaccinations up to €100 a year, and screening for Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome up to €50 a year. The separate Chickenpox and Meningitis B vaccination benefits (€50 each, lifetime) have been folded into the new general vaccination benefit.
• Return home benefit is now capped at three claims per calendar year (still up to €100 per claim).

What this means for you: you're paying about €10 more a month, and for that you get meaningfully better fertility cover and some new benefits, with one new limit on return home claims.

Laya Essential Connect Health

The monthly cost rises from €248.54 to €269.75, about €21 more a month. The one change we found in the benefits is a good one: the excess for QuickCare and Fracture Clinic visits falls from €75 to €50 per visit at approved minor injuries and illness centres.

What this means for you: a bigger price rise than most, with only a small benefit improvement to offset it. If you rarely use QuickCare, it's worth checking whether you're getting value.

Level Health Plan A

Good news on price: €40.67 → €38.88 a month. We only had a price update for this plan, so we can't say whether any benefits changed.

New Plan: VHI PMI 72 10

VHI is launching PMI 72 10 at €136.24 a month (€1,634.90 a year). Key features:

• Hospital cover: 100% in public hospitals. In private hospitals, semi-private accommodation is 100% covered with a €150 excess per claim, and a private room is paid at the semi-private rate. In High-Tech hospitals cover is lower: 45% for semi-private and 35% for private accommodation, with a €150 excess.
• Orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures: 60% cover in private hospitals with a €150 excess per claim, and 45% (semi-private) or 35% (private) in High-Tech hospitals, also with a €150 excess.
• Day-to-day benefits: a €2,000 annual limit with a €1 excess. GP visits are covered at 50% up to €40 a visit, consultants at 50% up to €125 a visit, and physiotherapy at 50% for up to 25 visits a year. Practice nurse and radiology are covered at 50%.
• Vhi 360 Health Clinics: 100% cover with a €75 excess per visit.

It could suit someone who wants full cover in private hospitals and a decent day-to-day allowance, and who is happy to pay an excess for hospital stays.

Higher Price, Less Cover?

We looked for plans where the price went up while benefits went down. There aren't many. Irish Life Net Most 500 ILH costs slightly more (+0.6%) and loses EXOGEN therapy, but gains the weight loss benefit, so the net effect is small. ILH A01 and A02 are up 2.2% and 5.5%, but we only had price updates for them, so we can't comment on their benefits. If you're on one of the 12 plans with the new ExpressCare excess, the cost of your cover hasn't changed in this update, but what you pay per visit has.

What Should You Do Next?

Check your plan's table of benefits against this list, especially if you use ExpressCare clinics or are on one of the plans with a price rise. Our summary is based on the insurers' published tables of benefits, so confirm the details of your own cover with your insurer.

At MedPlan.ie, you can compare health insurance plans side by side from Ireland's leading insurers, including VHI, Laya, Irish Life and Level Health, to find the plan that best suits your budget and healthcare needs. Visit MedPlan.ie today to compare your options before the November changes take effect.