Laya Healthcare is a

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

company in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Its headquarters are in Little Island,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. It is regulated by the Health Insurance Authority. Door_of_Laya_Health%2C_Dublin

History

BUPA Ireland, then part of the wider BUPA group, entered the private medical insurance market in Ireland in 1997 ending the

Vhi Healthcare The Voluntary Health Insurance Board () — which trades under the brand name Vhi Healthcare, and is still commonly referred to in Ireland as "The Vhi" – is the largest health insurance company in Ireland. It is a statutory corporation whose ...

monopoly which had existed for almost 40 years following the opening of the health insurance market in Ireland in 1994. In December 2006, BUPA Ireland announced that it would be leaving the Irish market as the High Court had left the Risk Equalisation scheme unchallenged. BUPA Ireland argued it could not afford to make a cash transfer to Vhi Healthcare as required under the Risk Equalisation Scheme. In February 2007 the

Quinn Group Mannok, formerly the QUINN group, is a business group headquartered in Derrylin, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. The group has ventured into cement and concrete products, container glass, general insurance, radiators, plastics, hotels, and r ...

acquired BUPA Ireland and renamed it Quinn-healthcare.Quinn Group announces 500 Fermoy jobs
RTÉ News, 17 April 2007Irish Supreme Court rules in favour of BUPA in risk equalisation case against the Government
Finfacts Ireland, 16 July 2008 As a new insurer, Quinn-healthcare was exempt from the Risk Equalisation payments for three years which was the normal concession granted to any new market entrant. In 1994 the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled that the Governments Risk Equalisation specifications were incompatible with the ''Health Insurance Act 1994'' and must be set aside. But the ''Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill December 2008'' proposed a new scheme of levies on all health insurance members to be used to fund a new system of tax credits for those over 50 who have private medical insurance.Private health insurance
Private Medical Insurance in Ireland, a short summary; Citizens Information Board, 24 June 2010 In late 2009, the future of the entity came into question, as its holder, the Quinn Group, fell into administration, and was looking to sell off its insurance assets in the UK and Ireland. A plan was considered by the Irish Government to buy Quinn-healthcare and merge it with Vhi Healthcare, but was not acted on. On 23 December 2011 Dónal Clancy, Managing Director of Quinn-healthcare announced that a senior management bid enabled by

Swiss Re Swiss Re Ltd is a Swiss reinsurance company founded in 1863 and headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. It is one of the world's largest reinsurers, as measured by gross premiums written. Swiss Re operates through around 80 offices in 29 countri ...

as the re-insurer was successfully concluded with the administrators. Bruce Hodkinson of Swiss Re, confirmed that Elips Life (a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Re) would be the underwriter. The company was re-branded in May 2012 as ''Laya Healthcare''. Laya means "Looking After You Always". Laya Healthcare is currently the second largest health insurer in Ireland. On 1 April 2015,

AIG American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core ...

acquired Laya Healthcare. That year, the company became a sponsor of

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby () is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of t ...

. In August 2023, it was announced Laya Healthcare had been acquired by the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

multinational insurance company

Axa Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2024, it is the fourth largest financi ...

from Corebridge Financial, (which had spun off from AIG in 2022), for €650 million. In October, the purchase was completed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laya Healthcare Financial services companies established in 1997 Health insurance companies of Ireland 2023 mergers and acquisitions

History

See also

References

External links