hospital fees

CATSEYES8787

Hi all,

I'm looking for some info about hospital charges, after spending a reasonably long time researching on the net (citizeninfo, livinginireland.ie, hse.ie etc).

I have been living in Ireland for seven years and after talking to my Mum yesterday, I realized I know very little about the Irish hospital system. In my country (which is in the EU), 80% of hospital fees are paid on behalf of the patient by the national health system (funded by taxes) and the remaining 20% is to be paid by the patient (or by his health insurer, should he have one).

According to what I read on the above websites, Irish out-patients are charged €100 fees, unless referred by their GP. In-patients pay €75/day, "up to a maximum of €750 in a any 12 consecutive months". I have also read about maintenance charges (hse.ie): "Patients who opt for private in-patient (including day-care) services in public hospitals are liable for a range of private accommodation charges.

1) In regards of the €75/day: does it mean that if a patient stays in hospital longer than 10 days, he won't have to pay any more fees?
2) What exactly are "private in-patient services"? Does it refer to patients who have private health insurance and are therefore charged up to €1000 for maintenance charges?

It gets confusing when, on http://www.rveeh.ie/content/patient-charges, I read that
- "If you choose to be a Semi-private in-patient...You will be accommodated in a designated semi-private ward...You will incur a charge of €933 per day plus statutory government levy per day (max. 10 days)".
- "If you choose to be a private in-patient the following applies: You will be accommodated in a designated private room if available...You will incur a charge of €1046.00 per day"
- "Day-care (Semi-Private). Patient will incur a charge of €753 per day, plus statutory government health levy charge €75."
"Payment is due on discharge unless you have valid Private Health Insurance".

So...this means that if an individual, who cannot afford health insurance, and who has a serious accident that requires him to stay in hospital for several days will have to pay a minimum of €933/day?? Am I understanding this correctly? Cause it sounds profoundly wrong

greenbicycle

you have it mostly right up to a point then you confuse yourself so

1) In regards of the €75/day: does it mean that if a patient stays in hospital longer than 10 days, he won't have to pay any more fees? yes this is exactly what i means and this is within a 12 month period.
2) What exactly are "private in-patient services"? Does it refer to patients who have private health insurance and are therefore charged up to €1000 for maintenance charges? the 75 euro charge is for a public ward mostly, you share your room with other patients, in most cases this is about 6 people per room, sometimes more sometimes less. if you need it you can be charged this rate as a public patient in an ICU ward where you are on your own for example, it all depends on your needs. however you can Choose to go private and have your own room or semi private which is sharing your room with less people (but not necessarily need your own room) and in this case you will be charged the fees you mention. in this case you either you pay or you insurance pays.

CATSEYES8787

Ok, and in the event that an individual requires X-Rays or scans, does this require extra charges to be paid by the patient?

greenbicycle

In public, no. in private, yes