Do I need health insurance?

Larbre34

Glenster wrote: »

That seems like overkill...

Is that an educated opinion?

I'll give you the number of the genetics clinic and my consultant, you can debate it with them.

ScumLord

Insurance is one of those things you don't need, until you do. Now that you're in your thirties it's all downhill from here too.

Bobeagleburger

If you can afford it to pay for surgerys up front, no you won't need it. They could cost multiple of thousands though.

The two tier health service is a serious joke. Basically if you've no money and no private health care your life expectancy is probably lower. No data on that but it's probable I'd imagine.

titan18

Macca07 wrote: »

Yes, GP referral ensures you're A&E treatment is free. May cost you €50 for your GP, but cheaper than A&E. And you can claim 50% back on the GP cosr on your health insurance too.

Definitely worth having HI.

Depends on the cover you get, not every plan would have money back on GP visits

madwifebecks

If you can afford it definitely go for private health insurance. I work in the HSE and have health insurance. I too am young and healthy but you never know what's around the corner (sorry don't mean to sound so pessimistic!! ) but wouldn't rely on the public system at all. Waiting lists are ridiculous and that's just one example.

FrStone

Glenster wrote: »

I was just saying, mathematically its not worth getting insurance until you're approx 45-50.

Its not like in the US where you could get hit with a 100 thousand dollar bill.

you could pay €750 in a year for hospital stays if you're uninsured. And thats if youre in hospital for 300 days or something.

You honestly haven't a notion!

First off the €750 charge is for 10 nights not 300. After 10 nights a year, you won't be charged anymore than €750 though.

You never know when you will get sick. The fact that you have health insurance means you will be diagnosed quicker and you can jump certain queues. God help you if you ever need an endoscopy on the public system. - Remember Susie Long?

The price of health insurance is a small price to put on your health.

enfant terrible

madwifebecks wrote: »

If you can afford it definitely go for private health insurance. I work in the HSE and have health insurance. I too am young and healthy but you never know what's around the corner (sorry don't mean to sound so pessimistic!! ) but wouldn't rely on the public system at all. Waiting lists are ridiculous and that's just one example.

Is it true you can pay for your scans privately and skip the public waiting lists?

Is it true most scans are a between 200-300 euro?

Thanks

_Whimsical_

Get it!
Last year mine cost me 1000 euro and paid for 2000 of care for me.

I managed to have two cancer scares last year. The difference health insurance made to the situation was enormous.

In one instance I went to my gp with something he thought very suspicious, he rang the hospital in front of me to see a surgeon ASAP and was told it would be 3 to 6 weeks depending on whether they could get me in before Christmas in the public system even after he insisted it was very urgent. Then I told him I had insurance and he rang the same surgeons private office. He saw me first thing next morning and had arranged scans and biopsy for me minutes later down the hall from his office in the private hospital.

Thankfully it was all OK but I don't know how I'd have born a 6 week wait to find out. It was worth the 1000 euro just so that awfulness was not dragged out more than 24 hrs but it would also have saved my life had there been something wrong.

A few weeks after I had another scare. Again insurance meant I got seen immediately. This time I had scans, ultrasound and bloods. I was told the blood test was so rare and expensive that in the public system they wait until they have several samples sent in and batch test them so I could be waiting 3 weeks for results. Instead in the private system blood was couriered away in the morning and results were back in the evening.

I would go without holidays or extras to pay for insurance. Id never be without it now, no matter what I would have to sacrifice for it. You're saving yourself more than money with it potentialyl, youre quite possibly saving your life and likely saving your sanity if you have a big scare that requires waiting around for tests and appointments.

mad muffin

I'm damn glad I have health insurance after my recent fall. Last November I fell and destroyed my shoulder. Tore my subscapularis tendon completely and dislocated the long tendon of the bicep.

Without health insurance I'd probably still be waiting for surgery. I had A&E visits, X-rays, MRI's visits with the consultant, surgery and hospital stay, and didn't have to pay for any of it, as I've already payed by having health insurance.

Also two weeks after seeing the consultant I was having shoulder surgery. Now physio is all taken care of as well.

If you can afford health cover get it.

callaway92

Luckily for me, work pay for my VHI in full, so that's a pretty nice incentive to have.

I haven't used the doctor/hospital since I started yet but it's nice knowing I have it.

aaronjumper

Depends on how nervous not having it makes you.
I've gone without it for roughly 5-6 years (maybe longer) and only had to go to the hospital once in that time.

Corruptedmorals

I wouldn't be without health insurance. I work in the HSE and know exactly how bad the various waiting lists for appointments, tests, scans and surgery are. The fairly recent RTE prime time on waiting in pain illustrated this perfectly.

CoolHandBandit

oneilla wrote: »

Go on the dole get a medical card, free house, free car, loads of free money and never worry again. Don't you read boards.ie? :rolleyes:

You'd think Boards would organize a march or something

They could call it the anti single mothers, anti welfare, anti social housing march or something.

Brego888

I've never had it and don't intend on getting it. I'm in my early 30's.

Quackster

enfant terrible wrote: »

Is it true you can pay for your scans privately and skip the public waiting lists?

Is it true most scans are a between 200-300 euro?

Thanks

You can get a scan privately for a few hundred but you can't use that to skip the public queue.

Get a scan privately and it shows up something, you then have to have follow-up consultations/treatment privately.

If you don't want to pay more to stay in the private system, you'd then have to get the same scan done again publicly and you'd be right back at the back of the queue.

Beyondgone

If you don't have one of the higher-spec Corporate level Plans, you're going into the same ward as the non-insured patients, seeing the same surgeon, in the same timeframe. You'll be left scratching your head as to what your "Private Health Insurance Plan" actually got you. The HSE will be billing your insurer like a good lad all the time, but you'll be like a Ryanair "Priority" passenger in a scrum with the plebs when the person checking Boarding cards didn't take the memo seriously.

You're probably better off committing a medium-level Jail-Time crime if you have a long term illness. As a Convict, you'll jump all the queues. You'll even get paid company who will stay with you through it all. Robbing the local Bank ought to do it.

mariaalice

Paid in most of my adult life and was fifty before I made my first claim, now I only got it first because it was offered at a discount in work, nobody plans to get ill. There must be a fair amount of people who pay in all there lives and never make a claim.

mariaalice

Beyondgone wrote: »

If you don't have one of the higher-spec Corporate level Plans, you're going into the same ward as the non-insured patients, seeing the same surgeon, in the same timeframe. You'll be left scratching your head as to what your "Private Health Insurance Plan" actually got you. The HSE will be billing your insurer like a good lad all the time, but you'll be like a Ryanair "Priority" passenger in a scrum with the plebs when the person checking Boarding cards didn't take the memo seriously.

You're probably better off committing a medium-level Jail-Time crime if you have a long term illness. As a Convict, you'll jump all the queues. You'll even get paid company who will stay with you through it all. Robbing the local Bank ought to do it.

That not true I have a fairly average policy and have treatment of the same condition both public and private, and while the consultants work in both the public and private practice( are there any consultants who only work in private practice ) in the private services there is no waiting around and an en suit private or semi private room beats a ward any day.

Rumpy Pumpy

Might be in the minority here, but think the health service is not in too bad a shape. We've the same challenges as every country - people not dying within the first two years, and then living to great ages - due in some part to advances in medicine.

In an ideal Ireland we'd have about 9 hospitals. Primary care clinics in larger towns. GP service feeding into that. Push the generalist intelligence out to the edge instead of centralising.

All very unachievable in the short-term though. Remember when the decision was made to close the A&E in Roscommon? TD's resigned and Enda was booed at a football match. In reality; anyone looking for more than a minor procedure would be better off heading to a proper hospital.

Lia_lia

I have had it for the past few years through work. They pay €1500 each for myself and my boyfriend. I do pay BIK on it of course. Not sure if I'd get it privately. I've never needed to use it really except for the usual doctors visits. But then again you never know when you might need it.

I never had it growing up. We did have a medical card sometimes, depending on how much my Mother was making at the time. Only time I was ever in hospital was when I was 15 with a dislocated kneecap and was in A+E for about 12 hours. That wouldn't have made any difference if I had health insurance or not. The only time it would have come in useful was when I got my wisdom teeth out. It's free with most health insurance plans as far as I'm aware. Cost me about €300 when I was a 20 year old student, so broke the bank a bit!

Cabaal

Glenster wrote: »

statistically, no.

Lifetime community rating is a scheme to scare you into buying insurance now so that it subsidises old people who, without you paying insurance but never going to hospital, would have to pay through the nose.

insurance is only for a nicer room and skipping the queue for elective surgery.

Few issues with what you've said,

First all, we all get old and when you get old you'll very much want and appreciate cheaper insurance... We don't want to go down the road of crazy expensive insurance like the USA.

Second off, insurance isn't just for waiting lists and nicer rooms. If you think it is then you're pretty clueless. For example In the past year I've claimed back more money for GP visits, sports physio etc then I've paid out for insurance.

Capt'n Midnight

Larbre34 wrote: »

Now, feel free to take the risk in our post code lottery precarious public system, but honestly I would live on beans and toast sooner than give up my health insurance. Its 70 quid a month, two rounds of beers when you think about it...

70 quid a month is a lot if you are on €188 a week

and TBH healthier food might be a better investment for many people

HSE costs about €2,700 per person.
The insurance is just a top up on top of that, some of which gets siphoned off in profit through the foodchain.


Too many health plans are geared to older people / hypochondriacs. "X% off your GP visits", ie. healthy people subsidise them, and others are "80% of costs covered" ie. you could still loose your house if it's something really expensive.

What I'd like is a plan that offers 0 on frequent bits and pieces like GP visits and 100% on the rare but costly items.



Better still get an EHIC card and get sick abroad.

whoopsadoodles

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

What I'd like is a plan that offers 0 on frequent bits and pieces like GP visits and 100% on the rare but costly items.

You pretty much can get that if you shop around.

And it's worth noting, that with health insurance, there is no plan that you're not entitled to.

e.g. If you know that there is a plan "especially for gardai" which suits your needs perfectly, you are entitled to be put on that plan no matter your job. The issue is, they don't have to tell you that plan exists, but if you ask for it, they have to give it to you.

andekwarhola

Myself and the family are insured by my company. Would pay it myself otherwise.

Not sure people grasp the concept of insurance. It's not supposed to be guaranteed to balance out financially or based on your health to date.

You're simply hedging your bets in case something pretty bad happens you or your family health wise so you don't have to brave the public system or pay large bills.

If you don't feel that it's acceptable in terms of cost vs risk, don't pay for it.

Simple really.

enfant terrible

Quackster wrote: »

You can get a scan privately for a few hundred but you can't use that to skip the public queue.

Get a scan privately and it shows up something, you then have to have follow-up consultations/treatment privately.

If you don't want to pay more to stay in the private system, you'd then have to get the same scan done again publicly and you'd be right back at the back of the queue.

This post says you can go on public list after getting your private scan
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89296331&postcount=53

Anyone know if thats true?

Anyone know how long public waiting lists are compared to private ones?

This one says he would have to wait eight weeks for a scan even when he had VHI so paid privately
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82162581&postcount=30

Anita Blow

enfant terrible wrote: »

This post says you can go on public list after getting your private scan
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89296331&postcount=53

Anyone know if thats true?

Anyone know how long public waiting lists are compared to private ones?

This one says he would have to wait eight weeks for a scan even when he had VHI so paid privately
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82162581&postcount=30

Waiting list for public scans is ~0-3 months for most
A private referral would be ~2-4 weeks

topper75

OP don't get any until you're 42 at the earliest.

I'm 42 and never been sick. Never bothered with trying to financially hedge against the will of the Almighty!

Wildcard7

topper75 wrote: »

OP don't get any until you're 42 at the earliest.

I'm 42 and never been sick.

OP you can also save money by not wasting it on birth control.

I have never gotten anyone pregnant.

BrokenArrows

Shenshen wrote: »

Not for myself, I've had few enough occasions to actually use it.

However, my husband did, and does. He's fit and lives healthy (doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, has not been eating meat since his late teens), yet found himself having kidney stones in his mid-30s. He had a heart attack in his mid-40s, was diagnosed as glucose-intolerant (basically pre-diabetic), and recently was hospitalised with a bad skin infection.

Yes, by living healthy you can reduce your risk of illness, but that doesn't mean they won't catch you out anyway. And you never know when that might happen.
So personally, I wouldn't be without health insurance.

So what you're saying is that not eating meat and not drinking has caused your husband loads of problems. Thanks for the warning. Ill stick to my bloody steak, beer and chips j/k

Quackster

enfant terrible wrote: »

This post says you can go on public list after getting your private scan
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=89296331&postcount=53

Anyone know if thats true?
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Yes, of course you can switch back from private to public but you won't be allowed to queue-jump by virtue of having had a scan done privately.