Do we need pricate health insurance

average_runner

HI;

Looking at the cost of private health insurance, i started to think, do we need it? After you have kids etc, is it worth having?

I mean if you get cancer or heart issues you are looked after very quickly in the public hospitals anyhow, i know this, as seen family treated really well.

So whats the point of private health insurance?

DrumSteve

average_runner wrote: »

HI;

Looking at the cost of private health insurance, i started to think, do we need it? After you have kids etc, is it worth having?

I mean if you get cancer or heart issues you are looked after very quickly in the public hospitals anyhow, i know this, as seen family treated really well.

So whats the point of private health insurance?

to make sure you are covered so you can get assistance as quickly as possible... not waiting on a waiting list. Also it'll prevent you getting a huge bill in the door from Instrum Justitia saying they are taking you to court before you are even out of A&E.

carveone

DrumSteve wrote: »

to make sure you are covered so you can get assistance as quickly as possible... not waiting on a waiting list. Also it'll prevent you getting a huge bill in the door from Instrum Justitia saying they are taking you to court before you are even out of A&E.

The debt collectors? Why would that be? I stopped paying my VHI in January simply because it was killing my bank account! I'd rather save for a rainy day thanks all the same.

If you can wait, I don't see the difference; however, I'm single so I'm less concerned.

krd

average_runner wrote: »

HI;


So whats the point of private health insurance?

The real difference is in electives. That is things you don't need done straight away. On private health insurance you might have to wait weeks - without it, you might have to wait years.

RossieW

Basically Average_Runner, we have developed into a dual tiered health system.

The public system will cover all of your hospital visits and consultant visits for free but you will have to wait. Basically if it is serious you will go into A&E and the initial treatment will probably be received immediately but the issue will be any after treatment or treatment for something on going you will have to wait for. Sometimes it takes as much as 6 months and longer to even see a consultant and only at that point does your name go on the dreaded waiting lists (these can be up to 2 years for certain treatments).
Costs are low - you can be charged €75 for up to 10 days treatment a year on the public system but consultancy visits are covered.
You won't be able to choose where you get treated or which consultants you see on the public system either.

On the private system you can pay anything from €600 per adult a year for a basic cover. It will mean that you get priority treatment, it doesn't guarantee you get a bed in our public hospitals but will open the option of private hospitals such as Bons Secours. Depending on which plan you are on Health Insurance will cover your hospital overnight costs, day cases, scans such as MRI's fully. You won't have to wait to see a consultant and will get your treatment pretty swiftly once medically necessary. You can choose your consultant and the hospital you visit.
If you are attending consultations with private consultants, on most plans you will have to pay these costs - up to €200 for a visit.

Personally, I am 24, and I would always have it if I can afford it. I suppose if I got sick I would just like to be comfortable in the knowledge I am going to get decent treatment fairly quickly and can choose where I get it.
I have not been sick before but the reason I have it now is that there are waiting periods when you initially take it out. If you have a condition before you take health insurance out it is not covered for 5 years - so it is vital that you get insurance before you get sick!

I know I started that all with basically and it probably wasn't all that basic but I hope it is pretty helpful.

alibride

my company pays mine - but got the bill in the door for the kids renewal - €508 - nasty - just before xmas and i did ponder whether id keep it our not - but knowing my luck one of them would get sick and id have to use it!!!

only in hospital twice in my life an thats to have kids - have health insurance all my life and went public as with private you only get back a fraction of the 3 k you pay!! madness!!

lmimmfn

alibride wrote: »

my company pays mine - but got the bill in the door for the kids renewal - €508 - nasty - just before xmas and i did ponder whether id keep it our not - but knowing my luck one of them would get sick and id have to use it!!!

only in hospital twice in my life an thats to have kids - have health insurance all my life and went public as with private you only get back a fraction of the 3 k you pay!! madness!!

thats the other issue, youre getting charged 50% more due to BIK, after all VHI is a semi state, so work pays 1200 to vhi( i.e. the government ) for you and you pay 600euro to the government for the privilege of your company paying for you.

Madness.

Sleepy

I'd love it but, like most other single income families, it simply isn't an option for us.

jester77

alibride wrote: »

my company pays mine - but got the bill in the door for the kids renewal - €508 - nasty - just before xmas and i did ponder whether id keep it our not - but knowing my luck one of them would get sick and id have to use it!!!

only in hospital twice in my life an thats to have kids - have health insurance all my life and went public as with private you only get back a fraction of the 3 k you pay!! madness!!

Ouch, is that €508 per month?

and I thought it was bad here in Germany!

alibride

no its 508 per year and i get 50% back on gp bills!! so suppose its not too bad (but lucky for me my kids dont get sick too often)!!

nesf

Insurance is useful for elective stuff (most of which is an old age problem but if you're unlucky it can hit you when you're younger). Other than that there's private hospitals (i.e. psychiatric especially) and sometimes day hospitals and day treatments stuff is covered (depends on plan).

Personally I have it and am glad of it, but I could do without it if I absolutely had to.

drn987

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd weigh in as I do have some personal experience here. I'll Be cancelling my VHI next month as I simply do not beleive it is necessary.

I'm a single man, age 30 something, and I took out the basic policy at €600 a year a couple of years ago, never thinking I'd actually need it. This policy didn't cover private hospitals at all. The public one is about as useful as tits on a fish.

A few months ago I had a problem, went to see a consultant (who I chose - 2 week wait), paid him the €200 for the appointment, and he said I needed minor surgery. The condition wasn't that serious, but it needed fixing at some point.

Enter my VHI policy, which turned out to be bloody useless. The consultant in question didn't work in public hostpitals so he would have had to refer me, at which point the long wait began. Appraently there is a huge difference between insurance that covers private hospitals and insurance that only covers public hospitals.

After 6 weeks of nothing happening, I asked him how much the whole thing would cost if I just paid for it myself. I was more than a little surprised when the grand total (private hospital overnight stay, surgeon, anesthetist, etc.) only came to €2100. The procedure was carried out without a hitch - job done, no waiting.

My feeling now is that good insurance is only necessary for non critical cases (as mine was) where you can't come up with a couple of grand with a few months notice. If I'd been paying my VHI payments into a savings account for a few years I would have been covered, and that's what I plan to do from here on in. Cancel the VHI, open a savings account, and direct debit €80 a month.

In 5 or 10 or 20 years time I might need another non-emergency procedure, at which point I'll be easily able to afford it. If I don't need it, I'll have 10K or 20K sitting in the bank.

Insurance in this country is a scam, and it's popularity is down to the simple fact that most people do not realise how cheap most procedures actually are. Hospital bills only rise when long term illnesses come into play, and all anecdotes aside, those are incredibly rare. People have an incorrect opinion of hospital fees, probably from watching too many Amercian hospital dramas.

drn987

drn987 wrote: »

I know this is an old thread, but I thought I'd weigh in as I do have some personal experience here. I'll Be cancelling my VHI next month as I simply do not beleive it is necessary......................
My feeling now is that good insurance is only necessary for non critical cases (as mine was) where you can't come up with a couple of grand with a few months notice..........................

Some good points, I'm 31 and male.

My Mum passed away due to terminal cancer, she was being treated for the best part of a year, initially it began as abdominal pain, GP referred her to a specialist, seen within a few days and operated on shortly afterwards, unfortunately without private health insurance it is quite likely Mum would not have seen a consultant as quickly as she did.

My father then a couple of years after that was 60ish so went for a check up just for sh1ts and giggles really. Turned out he had developed type 2 diabetes, not a huge issue. GP decided an angio gram and all that jazz would be no harm, referred to consultant, partial blockage found, stent etc all done in a timely fashion. Again, if he was was covered with private health insurance it is quite likely he would have found out about his coronary condition post heart attack.

Personally, rushed to A&E during the night after waking in absolute agony, GP called and arranged the ambulance after seeing the state I was in, health insurance a non issue as I had gotten into the system, didn't matter if I had it or not.

Would I go without it, no. Would I cut back on other stuff before contemplating cutting the health insurance, yes.

Permabear

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Mucco

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

There's an awful lot of misunderstanding about health systems worldwide. It's not surprising - healthcare is a very complex issue, and it's difficult to appreciate the issues until you've experienced them yourself.
For example, cancer 5 year survival rates in Europe are more or less the same as the States now (they were worse ~10 years ago).
The US life expectancy is lower than most of Europe, despite spending over 16% of GDP on health care. Spending more does not necessarily mean you are spending wisely.
The Irish health system compares with other European systems, the poor experience of many people may be due to inferior 'hotel' factors, rather than the quality of health care.

Besides, if you're young, without kids, it's unlikely you'll be ill, so your insurance (and tax!) is subsidising the older people.

Source: OECD 2009 Health at a Glance