Healthcare cost for non irish person in Ireland

username2013

I am an Irish citizen who is married to a Canadian. She will be coming to Ireland to live with me in a few weeks. Regarding the public health system in Ireland if she has to go for an operation or anything like that, would she be required to pay more money than I would have to? Should we take out private insurance to cover things like this? Got quoted a figure of 2600 by VHI for private, which is not that cheap.

Has anybody got any experience with this? I am going to check some other private providers but I don't imagine there will be much difference between them.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Credit Checker Moose

Once she is resident in the state legally she is entitled to the same public health care as anyone else.

sabrewolfe

HSE says that she would usually have to be here for a year to qualify as ordinarily resident. They say you have to be able to prove your intention to stay more than one year, should'nt be too hard to do.

https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/find-a-service/eligibility.html

In terms of health insurance her age could be a factor with getting it as the insurers have that deadline that if your over 35 they apply a loading to your policy. If she has a pre existing condition they may also refuse to cover it for a few years at the start of the policy.

If your a public patient without health insurance you get charged €80 a day up to a max of ten days in a 365 day period. This covers everything.

Health insurance is only helpful when your seriously ill or you need to be seen quickly, if you can stand waiting months for a appointment or you just fall and fracture your wrist there really is no need for it.

MunsterM

sabrewolfe wrote: »

........
In terms of health insurance her age could be a factor with getting it as the insurers have that deadline that if your over 35 they apply a loading to your policy. If she has a pre existing condition they may also refuse to cover it for a few years at the start of the policy.
.............

There's a grace period for people moving to Ireland, where the loading is not applied, if they take out cover during that period.

ted1

username2013 wrote: »

I am an Irish citizen who is married to a Canadian. She will be coming to Ireland to live with me in a few weeks. Regarding the public health system in Ireland if she has to go for an operation or anything like that, would she be required to pay more money than I would have to? Should we take out private insurance to cover things like this? Got quoted a figure of 2600 by VHI for private, which is not that cheap.

Has anybody got any experience with this? I am going to check some other private providers but I don't imagine there will be much difference between them.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

They may not cover an operation if she has a preference existing condition. The fact you think she may have one would imply it’s pre existing.

Also there are cheaper policies. So what level do you want?

username2013

ted1 wrote: »

They may not cover an operation if she has a preference existing condition. The fact you think she may have one would imply it’s pre existing.

Also there are cheaper policies. So what level do you want?

Hi there, she has no pre-existing conditions, the question was purely hypothetical. Yeah, I am going to shop around a little, but even if it's cheaper I am not sure if it's worth having private insurance in Ireland.

Marcusm

username2013 wrote: »

Hi there, she has no pre-existing conditions, the question was purely hypothetical. Yeah, I am going to shop around a little, but even if it's cheaper I am not sure if it's worth having private insurance in Ireland.

Can be huge differences between them. Even huge differences between substantially similar plans with the same company (esp VHI).

Squatter

username2013 wrote: »

Hi there, she has no pre-existing conditions, the question was purely hypothetical. Yeah, I am going to shop around a little, but even if it's cheaper I am not sure if it's worth having private insurance in Ireland.

Are you aware of this site:-

https://www.hia.ie

Caranica

username2013 wrote: »

Hi there, she has no pre-existing conditions, the question was purely hypothetical. Yeah, I am going to shop around a little, but even if it's cheaper I am not sure if it's worth having private insurance in Ireland.

It's worth every penny. I pay a ridiculous amount in health insurance but when I needed it I got MRI - Consultant - Surgery in a couple of weeks. My physiotherapist said I'd have been very low priority for an MRI on the public system (young, not overweight, no known conditions) and it is have been at least 3 years. I was in agony for the few weeks it took, no way I could have put up with that pain for years.

A parent recently got two new hips in three months, having seen the consultant 2 weeks before their first surgery. Again only possible because they have health insurance.

It sucks that we have a two tier system, but when I started working the first thing I did was sign up for health insurance. If you can afford it I really advise your partner to get it.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

My American husband lives here with me. You have to get private medical insurance for a non EEA National for Stamp 4.
"We would draw your attention to the need to furnish the following:

Your original marriage/civil partnership certificate
Your original passport(s) and birth certificate
Your Irish spouse’s/civil partner’s original passport and birth certificate (Passport Cards are not acceptable)
Divorce papers from applicant and/or spouse (if applicable)
Evidence of Private Medical Insurance in respect of non EEA national"

http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/Pages/WP07000024

We got the cheapest policy possible with Laya online before he moved which cost around €600 at the time. Once he moved here my employer added him to our corporate policy and we cancelled the one we bought and they refunded us the balance.

Note that I was never once asked for proof of his private health insurance at the airport, or when registering him with the immigration officer. But it is in the requirements. We also used this policy as proof of our joint address because we had no other proof when he moved. We used it to open an account with PTSB because they were the only bank accepting health insurance documents, then used that bank account to open everything else.

Mrs OBumble

username2013 wrote: »

Hi there, she has no pre-existing conditions, the question was purely hypothetical. Yeah, I am going to shop around a little, but even if it's cheaper I am not sure if it's worth having private insurance in Ireland.

You cannot know that.

All you know is that she has nothing already diagnosed.

If you try to claim for anything other than an accident during the waiting period , they say "have the treatment and we will decide if it was pre existing based on the medical report".

The standard waiting period is 5 years.