It comes after Irish Life said it would raise its prices by 4.8pc for its 510,000 customers in January.
The latest hike and two previous ones announced in the past 12 months will mean some Irish Life plans will have soared in price for families by €600 a year.
The cumulative impact of the latest hike in premium rates will make some Irish Life plans 20pc more expensive for those renewing. The insurer blamed a surge in claims costs.
VHI, which has 1.2 million customers, and Laya, with 700,000 customers, could now also announce new price hikes.
Since the pandemic, all health insurers are seeing a massive increase in people making claims for procedures carried out in private hospitals.
Health insurance broker Dermot Goode, of TotalHealthCover.ie, said all three insurers were being hit by a sharp rise in claims for medical procedures.
“If I were a betting man, I would expect similar price increases from VHI and Laya,” Mr Goode said.
He said the trend was for health insurers to follow each other with price increases, albeit with a time lag.
Both VHI and Laya have already announced two premium rate rises this year.
VHI put up its plans for the second time in summer, with the cumulative effect meaning typical plans for a family will be €400 more expensive when they’re renewed.
Laya has announced two premium rate rises, with the most recent kicking in last month.
The combination of the two hikes will cost many Laya customers an average of an extra 7.8pc.
But some will be faced with increases of up to 16pc because their plans are rising by more than the average.
The cumulative effect of a third price rise in a 12-month period from Irish Life Health will increase its popular 4D Health 2 plan by 19pc for a family of two adults and two children.
This will add an additional €600 to the cost of the family renewing on this plan.
A small number of Irish Life plans will have gone up four times when the latest rise is implemented, according to Mr Goode.
Irish Life Health said the latest hike would increase gross adult premiums by an average of 4.8pc.
But a small number of plans will have no increase applied and the remainder will increase between 2.5pc and 6pc.
These price changes will apply for new customers from January 1 and for existing customers at their renewal date from January 1.
It made the decision to apply these price changes due to what it said was a continued increase in the volume and size of claims.
This has been driven largely through the private hospital network.
Irish Life Health managing director Ger Davis said: “We are continuing to see significant increases in customers accessing care, with a 25pc increase since 2019 in the number of people receiving treatment in private hospitals.”
The insurer said the latest price rise would mean the Kick-Off Plan would become €106 more expensive from the January rise alone.
Mr Goode said a third premium rate rises in 12 months had been unexpected.
He said the impact of the three rises was the highest premium rate increases in 10 years.
“A small number of Irish Life Health plans will go up four times. The cumulative impact will mean plans will be between 7pc and 20pc more expensive for those renewing after January 1.”
Mr Goode said families were facing rises of between €150 and €500 if they renewed on the same plans from the three hikes.
A number of Irish Life Health policyholders may escape the January rise for a year if they stay with the provider because a large number have a renewal date of December 31.