Health Insurance

Voltex

Basically im with VHI Plan B options (i think..never really looked)...but Im farsed if im gonna pay them more.

What does anyone reccomend?

Spocker

Not really a consumer issue to be honest.

Having said that, you're not even sure what plan you are on, so that would probably be a good place to start i.e. find out for sure :rolleyes:

Slice

Generally you'll find similar cover for less with Hibernian. You'll make an even bigger saving with Quinn but I would be wary of them simply because their equivalent cover would be even less comprehensive with far more excess fees etc

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

dudara

broker2008

VHI Plan B Options is € 75 per month at the moment and the price is going up again soon.

There are cheaper options available but before you go down that route the answers to a couple of questions will determine which is the right plan to have rather than matching one that you've probably had for years.

A couple of questions that spring to mind;
(1) where in the country do you live ?
(2) what hospitals are near you ?
(3) what type of hospital accommodation do you require ?
(4) do you visit doctors, physiotherapists frequently, infrequently or rarely ?
(5) do you visit swiftcare clinics ?

If a private room in a public hospital was adequate you could reduce your level of cover and save a few bob though.

Cork Boy

Check out Aviva Level2 everyday. Its the equivalent of VHI Plan B Options and cheaper.

Pm me if you need any further advice

Slice

broker2008 wrote: »

If a private room in a public hospital was adequate you could reduce your level of cover and save a few bob though.

Paying for a policy that only covers you through the public system is paying dead money. You're paying for a service you're already entitled to through the pubic system and private patients don't get priority here. What's more, you're not guaranteed a private room in a public hospital so you're only paying for the chance of a private room, effectively. I would be weary about reducing your cover here because if you did so you would also be giving up any waiting periods you may have served for treatment in a private hospital while on VHI Plan B and you'd face having to serve them again.

While you're location in the country is something to consider in terms of the provider and plan you go with it's not an argument to downgrade your cover if there are no private hospitals nearby. If you live in the back-end of nowhere with only a county hospital in your area then you'd most likely have to travel to one of the major centres for treatment whether you go private or public. In this scenario you want to ask the provider if they cover cost of travel and accommodation in cases where you need to trek all the way to Dublin for treatment.

broker2008

Slice wrote: »

You're paying for a service you're already entitled to through the pubic system and private patients don't get priority here.

If there are 2 beds available in a public hospital, one a private room and one a bed in a public ward and 2 patients to fill those 2 beds, one with private health insurance and one without, who do you think will get that bed ?

A private room in a public hospital is over €900 per night by the way.


PS - There are plenty of ways one can benefit from having private health insurance at a Plan A / starter level. Of course one should not downgrade their cover without analysing all options but I'm afraid cost is a major issue these days and €900 per year for Plan B Options is only one option.

Slice

But, in public hospitals, you're not just competing for a private room with other public patients. You're also competing with other private patients for it as well. To put that into perspective; well over half the population has private medical insurance. And, because these are public hospitals, there are only a very limited number of private rooms available in each hospital.

Plan B/Level 2 cover may be costly but the whole point of health insurance is to avoid having to go through the public system and Plan B offers that. Plan A/Level 1 cover will see you treated through the public system (in a private room, or otherwise). So, while it works out cheaper, it's an even bigger waste of money than Plan B because you're paying up to €550 a year for a very marginal benefit which is the chance (not the guarantee) of a private room through the public system. I say fork out the extra €250 for Plan B, or less with equivalent cover through Hibernian or Quinn, for access to a private hospital.

broker2008

I do agree that Plan B cover is better than Plan A. I could have just answered the OP and said Level 2 Hospital, Level 2 Everyday or Essential Plus as alternatives but before I got to that stage, I posed a couple of questions which need to be answered to ascertain what is and isn't important in regards to health insurance requirements.