Another 10,000 people cancelled their health insurance cover in the final quarter of last year, new figures show.

Nearely 200,000 people have now left the health insurance market since 2008.

According to the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) the number of people with private health insurance cover fell by 64,000 last year, bringing the total proportion of the population covered to 45.8%.

A total of 2,099,000 people now have health insurance, compared to a peak of almost 2.3 million at the end of 2008, just before the recession started to take effect.

All four insurers have recently increased their premium rates. GloHelath and Laya have already implemented increases this year and have said they are going to hike their rates again.

VHI and Aviva have also announced premium increases this year.

Negotiating the health insurance minefield