Why do I need health insurance

dhaughton99

Hi all,
I have been hearing a lot about health insurance over the last few days, no doubt over the 600+ waiting list. Leads me to wonder if I need insurance.
40 years old, single, unemployed at the moment, no health problems and never been to hospital and doctors only once in 20 years.
Do I really need it?

GerardKeating

dhaughton99 wrote: »

Hi all,
I have been hearing a lot about health insurance over the last few days, no doubt over the 600+ waiting list. Leads me to wonder if I need insurance.
40 years old, single, unemployed at the moment, no health problems and never been to hospital and doctors only once in 20 years.
Do I really need it?

If you are 200% sure you will not be sick, then no need, but Government are
proposing to make it mandatory in a year or three.

NIMAN

Maybe? Who knows?

Just because you have never been to the GP doesn't mean you're healthy.
For example, do you know what your blood pressure level is?
Or blood sugar level?
Or cholesterol level?

Do you smoke?
Do you drink?
Do you exercise?

Lots of variables, and you are now at an age where perhaps an overall checkup from a GP would do no harm?

com1

The A&E waiting times have nothing to do with private health insurance. Everyone is treated the same in a&e

mickman

GerardKeating wrote: »

If you are 200% sure you will not be sick, then no need, but Government are
proposing to make it mandatory in a year or three.

What does getting sick have to do with health insurance ? If anything serious happens an irish citizen then you get the same treatment regardless of health insurance. Another misconception is that people with health insurance get "better doctors" , the doctors you get are the same people with / without health insurance and they treat you the same

health insurance is only valuable for elective surgery and even then you will be waiting

LostArt

mickman wrote: »

health insurance is only valuable for elective surgery and even then you will be waiting

Yes, but you will be waiting weeks to get access to a private hospital and not the months you would be waiting on the public system to access public hospitals.

Mrs OBumble

Even if you take out health insurance now, there is a five-year waiting period on claims for pre-existing issues. That's pre-existing, not pre-diagnosed. So the insurance company would have an "out" for most diseases.

If you get seriously sick (car-crash, heart attack, cancer, broken leg), the public system will treat you anyway.

If you get sick-but-it-won't-kill-you-immediately, you will go on a waiting list. This is where HI can help, by letting you skip the queue. Even so, it depends on how sick you are: if you're very sick, this may let you skip the queue in the public system.

Ditto if you get sick-but-won't-kill-you-at-all, the public system probably won't bother treating that condition. HI may.

If you get symptoms and need tests to figure out what is wrong, then HI can help you skip the queue to get the tests faster. Or you may choose to pay for the test / initial-consultation yourself - some people think that this is a better approach than paying the insurance company's profit.

mickman

LostArt wrote: »

Yes, but you will be waiting weeks to get access to a private hospital and not the months you would be waiting on the public system to access public hospitals.

Yes but only for elective surgery. Emergencies are all treated the same

I have health insurance from work but i wouldnt pay for it myself - its not worth it

tomfoolery60

Another area where HI really helps is if you have a condition that might cause you significant discomfort/suffering but is not deemed "urgent" or life threatening by the public system - could be a skin condition or an issue with a joint. You might be waiting months upon months for treatment under the public system while the private will be quicker (for a cost!).

DoomZ

My experience;
Had health cover for MRI at a private hospital, had no overnight cover.
They advised I needed more tests, and I will need to stay over...I said no as the cost was 350e.
I said I'd come back tomorrow, they said I cannot. (They were very insistent I need to stay, I knew I was OK healthwise)

So I got a letter from them to go to the public hospital, the exact same consultant seen me in the public hospital the following day.

nearzero

Struggling with this question myself... pay the household bills or pay my health insurance

mickman

DoomZ wrote: »

My experience;
Had health cover for MRI at a private hospital, had no overnight cover.
They advised I needed more tests, and I will need to stay over...I said no as the cost was 350e.
I said I'd come back tomorrow, they said I cannot. (They were very insistent I need to stay, I knew I was OK healthwise)

So I got a letter from them to go to the public hospital, the exact same consultant seen me in the public hospital the following day.

Its some scam i tell ya :-)