Reducing health insurance payment

gazzer

Like tons of other people I am starting to trim away the fat with my expenses from my income. I want to keep my health insurance and am currently paying over €85 a month (single person). This is for Level 2 day to day cover with Aviva. I would like to keep the option of having a semi private room in a private hospital so I went onto the HIA website and there is a lot of info there but one thing I wanted to ask is this:

I live in Cavan and if I was to have an accident or something serious happened to me and I had to get taken into hospital I imagine I would be taken to the hospital in Cavan? Surely I would just end up in a public ward (dont think there is any private hospital in Cavan)? What is the point in having insurance for a private hospital if there is not one near you? I understand having insurance for say having a scan/mri etc but I'm still not convinced that having the insurance for a private room is necessary.

Can I for instance if I was taken into Cavan General ask to be moved to a private hospital? To be honest the thoughts of going to the likes of the Mater hospital (not the private one) scares the crap out of me as I have had relatives die there and I just have never had a good experience in that hospital. That was my motivator for getting private health insurance originally. Now that I live in Cavan though (moved there from Dublin) am I right in saying that I would automatically end up in Cavan general if I had to be taken into hospital?

Thanks

NuMarvel

If you had an accident or required urgent treatment, you would be taken to the nearest emergency department, so chances are it would be Cavan you would be taken to. Generally speaking, health insurance doesn't come into play here, as your admission would be determined by how serious your condition was.

If it was something less urgent (but not necessarily less serious), then the usual route is for your GP to refer you to a consultant that deals with your particular illness, who may or may not work out of Cavan General Hospital. Using your health insurance would mean having quicker access to the hospital and you'd be covered for a private or semi private (i.e. shared) room depending on availability. In this kind of circumstance you probably wouldn't be staying in the public ward as.

Given your relative proximity to Dublin, I'd be inclined to retain cover for private hospitals if I were in your position. Private waiting lists for private hospitals are shorter than those for public hospitals, so it keeps your options open should you need treatment.

That said, €85 is alot of money for a single person. Perhaps you should look at taking a private hospital excess on your cover in return for a reduced premium. Also, ask Aviva how much the corporate equivalent of your plan costs (and check that there's no loss in cover). This thread talks a little bit more about that. Finally, given that you're paying for day to day cover (GPs, etc), do you think it's worth the extra premium? If you're a PAYE worker you can get 20% tax relief on some of your medical costs, so could you drop the day to day cover if the tax relief was enough for you?

CathyMoran

I upped to higher insurance when I turned 30, did not think anything of it - then at 32 I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Once I saw the consultant the tests and treatment were carried out quickly - I had chemo in a very small ward (was better to have other people in there during chemo as you can have problems with it). You can be diagnosed with a serious illness that will require planned but necessary care. It costs a lot but I would not give it up.