Do you get the same treatment.

Mocha Joe

JustAThought wrote: »

Not too hard when they're getting e200 per visit cash in hand from them, each.

Even if you pay ridiculous VHI prices, you have to pay €200 per consultancy? Insanity.

devnull

I was quoted 18 months to see a neurologist on the public system, now am seeing a doctor in the very same building on private within 3 weeks.

My GP said the first thing he would do is ask for an MRI or a CT which would be another long wait. As I have Laya I can get a CT/MRI done for free at a private scan center at a GP refereal.

So I've had them done (which were fine), and see the doctor all in the space of three weeks. Via public it'd take 18 months to see the consultant, then another long wait for the scan, and then another long wait to get a follow up.

No thanks.

devnull

Hootanany wrote: »

But it is morally wrong to be told 9 months on public "open your wallet & I will see you on Thursday"

The whole Irish health system is morally wrong. I have friends in the UK and they can't believe we have to pay for basic services, the prices we pay prescriptions and yet still we end up with a far worse service than in a country where it is free to use!

OldNotWIse

They should have an option whereby you can pay more if you want to avail of witchdoctorsalternative practitioners, but if you just want normal medical treatment, your premium stays the same.

OldNotWIse

Hootanany wrote: »

But it is morally wrong to be told 9 months on public "open your wallet & I will see you on Thursday"

I think you have to "open your wallet" before you get sick, and whether or not you get sick.

That's why it's called insurance.

Robin132

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

I have been wondering about this myself. We have hospital cover for our family but am wondering if it is worth it.

I recently rang a private hospital to book an appointment with an ear, nose, throat consultant for my son. I got sick of the GP telling me he had an infection when he didn't. The consultation costs €80 and the appointment is this week. The useless GP costs €50.

Surely if you see a consultant privately and pay the initial fee, if a serious condition is diagnosed the public system would be obliged to treat it anyhow?

By all accounts if you go to a consultant privately, any treatment must be carried out privately, you cant be transferred to the public list.

I have had to visit a number of consultants and had a number of procedures and the waiting times were far far less than if I had gone public, if I had gone public in one case I dread to think what would have happened in the 14 months or over i would have had to wait to see the consultant. Same case with the other half, rang the hospital to see when he would be seen as a public patient and was told 3 years but if he went privately he would be seen within 2 weeks.

It is ridiculous and unfair but i would rather have health insurance then wait for public service. But in terms of treatment, same doctors and hospitals in most cases so the only real benefit as people have said is generally reduced waiting times.

TextureLikeSun

My son was very sick from repeat throat infections- we were told he had to get his tonsils out.Told we would have to wait for 3 years on public health system, we pointed out that we actually had vhi and we were told to pick a date that suited.They were removed a month later.No way would we be without for the kids but we had to give up our own as it was too expensive

KimmyKims

I was diagnosed with cancer last July, i didnt have health insurance just a medical card. I have had nothing but excellent care since diagnosis. I was brought in to a private medical centre for an MRI the day after diagnosis as St James didnt have any appointments for a few days. I had to wait only 4 days to see a specialist oncologist and all my tests - CT scan, PET scan and examination under anaesthetic were done all within the month. I had major surgery the start of september and was in hospital for 9 days in a ward with 5 other women much older than myself ( im quite young to have had this type of cancer ) i was looked after so well and enjoyed the company ( after i was weaned off the morphine lol) even now i never have to wait more than a week or two for scans etc ... So in my case i cant fault the system at all

Tiddlypeeps

KimmyKims wrote: »

I was diagnosed with cancer last July, i didnt have health insurance just a medical card. I have had nothing but excellent care since diagnosis. I was brought in to a private medical centre for an MRI the day after diagnosis as St James didnt have any appointments for a few days. I had to wait only 4 days to see a specialist oncologist and all my tests - CT scan, PET scan and examination under anaesthetic were done all within the month. I had major surgery the start of september and was in hospital for 9 days in a ward with 5 other women much older than myself ( im quite young to have had this type of cancer ) i was looked after so well and enjoyed the company ( after i was weaned off the morphine lol) even now i never have to wait more than a week or two for scans etc ... So in my case i cant fault the system at all

The public service isn't much different to the private one if you have a life threatening illness or if the probability of you having one is high.

It only really makes the difference when you fall into the "not high priority but should still be checked out anyway" camp. So someone with a persistent cough will be put on a waiting list with no hurry put on it even tho that could mean any number of life threatening illnesses, because they aren't showing definite signs of being in immediate danger. If that cough turned out to be something like lymphoma then you would be in serious trouble having potentially lost months waiting on a diagnosis where treatment could have long started.

As with all insurance, it's a gamble. A lot of people may never need it. For me as long as the system stays the way it is now I will always try to have health insurance because losing that gamble is a pretty big loss compared to the cost.

o1s1n

Here's an interesting down side to private health care many people don't think about - if you are in an accident and wish to pursue a public liability claim, your private health insurer will want to be reimbursed.

If it was a serious enough accident (badly broken leg) and you were in hospital for a while/had surgery - the final bill can be quite a large sum indeed.

kfk

o1s1n wrote: »

Here's an interesting down side to private health care many people don't think about - if you are in an accident and wish to pursue a public liability claim, your private health insurer will want to be reimbursed.

If it was a serious enough accident (badly broken leg) and you were in hospital for a while/had surgery - the final bill can be quite a large sum indeed.

But that should all be paid by the insurance company that the claim is being made against! Usually the claim would be for medical expenses, legal expenses and general damages.

LoonyLovegood

I was in A&E yesterday morning, if I was a private healthcare patient and got that treatment I'd be disgusted. There's a complete difference between how you're treated. I broke my ankle seven months ago, I'm still waiting on an MRI for it. Not needed anymore, though.

COYW

theSHU wrote: »

I'm on the Laya basic plan and its about €480. Your health is your wealth.

I got mine (just me no dependents) down to €900 by joining them. I was with Aviva prior to that and the quoted me €1200 last year and that is without gp cover. I have never had any claims on my policy. Aviva blamed the shortage in beds and the volume of people cancelling policies for a €250 rise in cover.

On queuing, my mother cannot get private cover due to the nature of her condition and has never had to wait for treatment at any stage.

anncoates

OldNotWIse wrote: »

I think you have to "open your wallet" before you get sick, and whether or not you get sick.

That's why it's called insurance.

You can still get ambushed.

I think our family health insurance costs around 2k a year (I don't know for sure as my job pays it) and we had to get a speech and psychological assessment as my son has a suspected language impairment. 18 months for HSE versus immediately for private, with the costs of the latter nowhere near fully covered by insurance.

So essentially, If we hadn't have had the means to stump up the money, we would have basically been increasing the chances of our child having serious learning difficulties in school.

How is this fair in a country with such a small population and the amount of money that is pissed into the HSE?

Odats

Private healthcare is worth it. I had to have a minor but necessary procedure done a couple of years ago. Went to the GP (private patient) would have been a week if I had a medical card on a Thursday morning, told him I had VHI and was out with the consultant that afternoon and on the operating table the following Wednesday. The operation I was told at the time had a 12 - 18 month waiting list if I was public.

It does help for this, but my mother got very sick a couple of weeks ago and I have to say the care and attention she got was second to none and she had a medical card.

We are lucky compared to America. Imagine paying $1-2K per month in case you got sick. Madness.

donutheadhomer

endacl wrote: »

I cancelled when I saw what a portion of that price hike might be spent on...

"We will pay for treatment and prescribed drugs for the following Complementary Medicines: Chiropractic, Osteopathic, Acupuncture, Homeopathic, Ayurvedic treatment including Herbal and Chinese Medicines provided such treatment is given by a licensed practitioner...."

:mad:

https://www.vhi.ie/pdf/products/VhiInternational_Jan13.pdf

some of these treatments are just water and leafs though aren't they?

OldNotWIse

EurasianBadger wrote: »

some of these treatments are just water and leafs though aren't they?

Don't forget the all important sugar!

Captain Slow IRL

I asked my GP about it years ago, he told me it was a waste of money so I never bothered with it.

shopaholic01

Captain Slow IRL wrote: »

I asked my GP about it years ago, he told me it was a waste of money so I never bothered with it.

It is if it's is a non life-threatening condition that impairs your quality of life and/or ability to work. Good luck getting speedy treatment on the public system.

o1s1n

kfk wrote: »

But that should all be paid by the insurance company that the claim is being made against! Usually the claim would be for medical expenses, legal expenses and general damages.

Yep! That's right.

However I still get the impression that if you have an approx say 25k claim and the private medical expenses are 10k (which wouldn't have existed if you went public), it's going to have an affect on your general damages bargaining power if you decide to settle.

kowloon

Some services depend on how you get seen. I spent the night in casualty last week and had a completely unrelated condition sorted the same day. I was seen by a doc who had the consultant up with her the same day and a biopsy sorted an hour later. Had I been an outpatient I'm sure I would have been on a waiting list to see the consultant and a further wait after that. Even privately you wouldn't get that kind of service as an outpatient.

billyhead

I am with the VHI and have had to make use of it on 2 previous occassions one for a speedy biopsy i.e took place within weeks when I saw a consulatant for an irregular growth on my skin which turned out to be benign and the other for an MRI scan for a pelvic fracture in a a private clinic within a matter of days from an intitial gp visit. If I was on the public system I would posiibly have been waiting months for either procedure. Not a hope I would give up the insurance. You never know when you will need to avail of it

Hootanany

Why is there such a disparity between Public waiting times & Private?

Tiddlypeeps

Hootanany wrote: »

Why is there such a disparity between Public waiting times & Private?

Because the HSE can't afford to hire more people/buy more equipment.

With private the individual is paying for the service themselves (or their insurance company pays on their behalf) so it doesn't really have the same problem of juggling resources, at least not the same extent anyway.

ash23

I think it depends on what is wrong with you to be honest. If you are seriously ill you tend to be seen quickly (in my experience) but if you a minor / not serious condition then be prepared to wait for years.

I have MS and even though I have private insurance, I am being seen as a public patient. A girl I know was trying to get an appointment with the same consultant as I have and was told there was a 3 year wait. I had an appointment within a month of my GP requesting one. But that was because of my symptoms.
I was sitting beside a girl in the waiting room and even though we were under the same consultant, she had never met him. I see him at every visit. She remarked that I must be a private patient but I'm not. It's just that her condition is less "serious" than mine.

I usually wait about a month to have an MRI. My sister was waiting 2 and a half years for an MRI for a shoulder injury. A month wait is on the public list by the way. I could go private and have an MRI tomorrow but my neuro said he feels the MRI scanner in the private hospital isn't as good as in the public hospital so prefers for me to wait and have the procedure in the public hospital.

I've had a 6 month wait for physio on the public system also. Again though, it depends on the severity of the condition I think. The meds I am on cost a fortune but are completely covered by the government.


I did wait 3 years for an appointment for an ingrown toenail. I didn't have private insurance at that time.

Hootanany

Tiddlypeeps wrote: »

Because the HSE can't afford to hire more people/buy more equipment.

With private the individual is paying for the service themselves (or their insurance company pays on their behalf) so it doesn't really have the same problem of juggling resources, at least not the same extent anyway.

But a lot of procedures are done in the public System to private patient's?

OldNotWIse

Hootanany wrote: »

But a lot of procedures are done in the public System to private patient's?

and are funded by private patients...

Hootanany

But the VHI owes HSE a shed load of money,normal practice would be withdrawal of service for unpaid bills?

lazygal

For pregnancy and afterwards private care has been great for me. I loved having my own room last time as I was in for five nights post section. I know I wouldn't have recovered as well if I was on a shared ward and I'm not a great sleeper or good with sharing personal space. I also liked having my consultant at every appointment, having her deliver my baby and having postnatal care with her. Worth having the insurance and paying the fees for me and I've chosen to go private again.

For other situations I'm not so sure private gets you a whole lot, especially for areas where all the expertise is in the public system such as certain cancers and childhood illnesses.

That said, we can afford the health insurance. I wouldn't be one of those that would cling onto it no matter what if we couldn't. My husband paid health insurance for years before he met me and never claimed once on it. He'd have been better off saving the money and getting insurance after we got married.

OldNotWIse

Hootanany wrote: »

But the VHI owes HSE a shed load of money,normal practice would be withdrawal of service for unpaid bills?

Messy. Perhaps they should separate the two completely and see how the system pans out.