Cancelling Health Insurance, is it ill advised?

fret_wimp2

My old job paid my health insurance. I recently moved jobs and my new company do not provide health cover.
My renewal is up and i want to cancel it to save money.

The lady in laya stressed its a huge mistake and i should keep it open at a lesser level, but if i cancel it i may not be covered for up to 5 years if i ever sign up to it again.

Was this a scare tactic or is there some legitimacy to it?

coylemj

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

My old job paid my health insurance. I recently moved jobs and my new company do not provide health cover.
My renewal is up and i want to cancel it to save money.

When you say 'My old job paid my health insurance', do you mean that you had a private subscription (in your own name) for which you were reimbursed by your employer?

What they're saying to you is correct, things are going to get even tighter for people who try to get in late for medical insurance i.e. pay nothing while they're healthy 20-50 year olds and then try to jump on the bandwagon when they're older. You would be well advised to keep some kind of minimum cover.

Ciarrai76

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

My old job paid my health insurance. I recently moved jobs and my new company do not provide health cover.
My renewal is up and i want to cancel it to save money.

The lady in laya stressed its a huge mistake and i should keep it open at a lesser level, but if i cancel it i may not be covered for up to 5 years if i ever sign up to it again.

Was this a scare tactic or is there some legitimacy to it?

my husband & I are with Laya and when we queried with them last year about leaving health insurance, they told us the same thing.

We received our renewal notice this week and its gone up. We are on the lowest level of cover, so no room for manoeuvre. I rang Aviva and they were able to give us a lower quote. It is still high though, for us anyway, so I mentioned that we are considering getting rid of health insurance. He said to me that if we are without cover for over 13 weeks, that you have to serve your waiting periods again. This is normally only 6 weeks for someone with no health issues etc, and if there is a health issue then it is up to 5 years!
I have to decide in the next few days whether or not to keep it, or whether I Just keep it & my husband gets rid of his. I just don't know!

oldyouth

My health insurance will be the last thing I let go if push comes to shove. I've seen the difference it makes in access to treatment if needed for family members and I've seen the bills.

I'm not saying it is right or fair, but if I need urgent treatment, I'm skipping the queue

Ciarrai76

oldyouth wrote: »

My health insurance will be the last thing I let go if push comes to shove. I've seen the difference it makes in access to treatment if needed for family members and I've seen the bills.

I'm not saying it is right or fair, but if I need urgent treatment, I'm skipping the queue

that's what I fear if we let it go & something happens. I do know though, that my friend's dad was diagnosed with cancer last year, and they had not long cancelled their insurance, but he was seen quickly enough, and is thankfully still doing well! I just don't know what to do. It is very unfair that you essentially can buy your way up the waiting list, so to speak.

Sparkles78

Got my renewal yesterday and mine is gone up too, been thinking of cancelling it for a long time now as I really cannot afford it anymore, just myself and my son on it. Have it about 18 years and only had to use it once touch wood, thinking how much Id have if I saved the money instead. Decisions decisions...

fret_wimp2

I ended up keeping my health insurance, but downgrading it considerably to one of the lower policies, but also adding my partner onto it.

Pros:
both of us are on the insurance.
still hvae the queue jumping ability in the worst case scenario.
covered for large expenses if something horrible happens.
Half the price of my old cover, even with both of us on it.

Cons:
everyday expenses reimbursment is minimal.
no private hospital cover.

For our situation this suits us pretty well. Hope this helps some people.

coylemj

Ciarrai76 wrote: »

It is very unfair that you essentially can buy your way up the waiting list, so to speak.

If it settles your conscience, you are not 'buying' your way up the list, you are joining a different list - one funded entirely by the private sector and which is paid for by medical insurance premiums. Private hospitals like the Beacon, Bon Secours, Galvia, St. Vincents private etc. would not exist if there wasn't a significant section of the population prepared for an alternative system. What this says about the public system is another matter.

If it wasn't for private medical insurance (VHI/Laya etc), everyone would be on the same public system and the queues would be even longer. People who pay for private medical cover are actually causing the queues in the public system to be shorter than they would be otherwise even though they pay the same taxes as people who do use the public system.