Do you have health insurance?

Harry Palmr

Anyone have any views on "cash back" insurance v so called "full cover"?

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Anyone have any views on "cash back" insurance v so called "full cover"?

I've no interest in the GP repayment cover or relatively minor costs - for me it's the 'big ticket items' and the speed of being seen/treated.

fishy_fishy

Haven't read the whole thread so apologies if it's already been mentioned.

If you have a pre-existing condition, try to take out insurance via a company group scheme. Some insurers waive waiting periods entirely if you join via the company schemes. I let my cover lapse during my 20s cos I couldn't afford it, and rejoined through one of those schemes to avoid paying through the nose without actually getting any cover for 5 years.

Wouldn't be without the peace of mind it gives me now that I can afford it - private room in private hospitals and 50% of costs back for day to day expenses. If I'm sick the last bloody thing that will help a recovery is being in one of those "semi private" wards.

Graces7

EllieB wrote: »

Ah, medical card patients don’t pay the per night fee.

It was like moving from NHS to an identical system. The first time I had to go to A and E they told me it was E100, but then I told them re medical card. A huge relief.

starbaby2003

One in five medical card holders have private health insurance. This burden can cost up to 10% of the households income but they still deem it necessary. That should answer your question.

puppieperson1

Everyone dies sooner or later why prolong your life on medication - ireland is a **** hole now who'd want to live here cant wait to die. i f i need A & E its 200 euro in private clinic no big deal pay it and be seen, fear drives the insurance industry fear fear fear they are making millions on your fear.

I am nearly 60 low meat diet no fast food or alcohol healthy weight outdoorsy thats the key reduced stress 3 day week work remotely. Look at your life if you are on the gerbil wheel breaking your bollox for capilatilist corpos then you do need VHI but they give it to you cos they know youll soon implode from work over load & mortgage stress. Re evaluate what is meaningful to you , most dying people say they wish they had worked less 2020 think about it . Stop living in fear reduce your costs live in a house with 1 bathroom. Did you have 6 in your parents home no did you get disease from your family no did they have health insurance probably not. Re - evaluate your whole life.. no one really gives a **** about you in the end look after yourself.

harr

Just keep in mind re the insurance if you do have to visit a&e you won’t be guaranteed a bed or a private room it all depends on what the hospital has available , I was on a trolley in a hallway for 2 nights till I checked myself out , Also remember to check the bill the hospital send your insurance company I have spotted over charges on more than one occasion example would be the hospital adding in an extra nights stay.

kerryjack

puppieperson1 wrote: »

Everyone dies sooner or later why prolong your life on medication - ireland is a **** hole now who'd want to live here cant wait to die. i f i need A & E its 200 euro in private clinic no big deal pay it and be seen, fear drives the insurance industry fear fear fear they are making millions on your fear.

I am nearly 60 low meat diet no fast food or alcohol healthy weight outdoorsy thats the key reduced stress 3 day week work remotely. Look at your life if you are on the gerbil wheel breaking your bollox for capilatilist corpos then you do need VHI but they give it to you cos they know youll soon implode from work over load & mortgage stress. Re evaluate what is meaningful to you , most dying people say they wish they had worked less 2020 think about it . Stop living in fear reduce your costs live in a house with 1 bathroom. Did you have 6 in your parents home no did you get disease from your family no did they have health insurance probably not. Re - evaluate your whole life.. no one really gives a **** about you in the end look after yourself.

Exactly my way of thinking the health system is clogged up trying to keep old very sick people alive when all they want is to pass on in peace and dignity bring on the tablet.

McCrack

puppieperson1 wrote: »

Everyone dies sooner or later why prolong your life on medication - ireland is a **** hole now who'd want to live here cant wait to die. i f i need A & E its 200 euro in private clinic no big deal pay it and be seen, fear drives the insurance industry fear fear fear they are making millions on your fear.

I am nearly 60 low meat diet no fast food or alcohol healthy weight outdoorsy thats the key reduced stress 3 day week work remotely. Look at your life if you are on the gerbil wheel breaking your bollox for capilatilist corpos then you do need VHI but they give it to you cos they know youll soon implode from work over load & mortgage stress. Re evaluate what is meaningful to you , most dying people say they wish they had worked less 2020 think about it . Stop living in fear reduce your costs live in a house with 1 bathroom. Did you have 6 in your parents home no did you get disease from your family no did they have health insurance probably not. Re - evaluate your whole life.. no one really gives a **** about you in the end look after yourself.

Grand but Ireland is far from a **** hole. It's a privilege to be born or live here and complainers don't appreciate what in fact we have here that the majority outside western Europe don't have. We rank third in the world in Human development index for instance. People talk about "poverty" and "homelessness" here..questionable is all I say

puppieperson1

puppieperson1 wrote: »

ireland is a **** hole now who'd want to live here cant wait to die.

The man that thinks Ireland is a ****hole and cant wait to die giving life advice... right.

puppieperson1

I am happy to head off to the happy place my advice is for your future you are mostly over worked stressed and thinking money will buy you health you create health by your behaviour & respect for your body - smart ass.

puppieperson1

By the way ireland was a great place but becoming a third world place daily !

puppieperson1

puppieperson1 wrote: »

I am happy to head off to the happy place my advice is for your future you are mostly over worked stressed and thinking money will buy you health you create health by your behaviour & respect for your body - smart ass.

Smart Arse, if you please.

puppieperson1

puppieperson1 wrote: »

By the way ireland was a great place but becoming a third world place daily !

It's off topic, but when was Ireland a great place compared to today - Under John Charles McQuaid rule or when our main exports were our citizens?


Because the thread is about insurance, I think we have to agree to disagree on this thread.

puppieperson1

ok chinese whispers your spelling is off too!

Graces7

People in eg Canada who work with the homeless there ? ; there and in all other countries "homeless" means sleeping rough not in emergency accommodation. And it is endemic there.

But HSE? appalling health care here in Ireland.
HSE are in court almost daily

McCrack wrote: »

Grand but Ireland is far from a **** hole. It's a privilege to be born or live here and complainers don't appreciate what in fact we have here that the majority outside western Europe don't have. We rank third in the world in Human development index for instance. People talk about "poverty" and "homelessness" here..questionable is all I say

Greyfox

lcstress2012 wrote: »

I’m 25 and have been paying €60 a month for the past year with VHI. That’s €720 a year!! Not gonna bother renewing in the new year as I never used it and in my mind it’s money being wasted away that I could save. ��*♂️

Im 39 and have no health insurance. If I had of been paying 60 a month for the last 15 years that would of been 10 grand down the toilet for me as I haven't had a serious health scare in that time as it would feel like a horrible waste. I realise that makes me very lucky but good health is making me take my health for granted, I haven't had it for so long it's making be believe I don't need it "yet"... I know I'm taking a risk but I live paycheck to paycheck so €720 a year is a good bit of money to me.

Harry Palmr

puppieperson1 wrote: »

By the way ireland was a great place but becoming a third world place daily !

Thought you were "one of them" by this post and a quick check confirms it.

DelBoy Trotter

I’ve had it since I was a child (my parents paid for it until I was in full time employment). I’ve played sport all of my life, and didn’t need it until my late 20s and it has covered multiple operations since then. I also upgraded my cover a few years ago so that I now can claim a lot of everyday expenses (75% of GP visits, 50% of physio visits, etc). I’ll never be without it

raze_them_all_

I have it, for me and my daughter I get docked about 40e a week. Well worth it

fishy_fishy

I actually think the basic health insurance packages are a complete waste of money, covering **** like a semi private room in a public hospital with minimal day to day cover. Why bother? You're paying more on a premium than you could ever possibly benefit off it.

However, the more comprehensive plans, although more expensive, will genuinely see an improvement in the care you can get should you need it. You go from public hospital care to being covered for things like knee ops in Blackrock Clinic, heart care in Mater Private etc, excellent maternity coverage, complimentary nurse phoneline/online GP visits.

Would always say if you're young (<35) and healthy and don't do any high risk activities, and the best cover you can afford is pretty basic, don't waste your money.

If you're hitting 35, and don't want to get hit by the lifetime community rating, but have a very limited budget, then go for the cheapest plan you can.

If you can afford good insurance, it's probably worth having. Sure, you may not chose where an ambulance takes you, but having an elective surgery in a private hospital, and access to scans at short notice, and access to (private) mental health services without spending years on a waiting list? Worth it to me.

Gael23

I pay €100 a month for mine. I see it as a bill to be paid every month rather than a luxury item.

Darc19

Bigdig69 wrote: »

If you let it go now while young, it will cost you more to rejoin when older and more likey to need it.

Only if you wait until you are 34 and even then you get credit for previous insurance.

40 year old with no previous insurance has a 6% loading

Ohmeha

I was considering it for the new year taking out a basic plan, I'm not far off 35 when the loading will kick in and my body has got really tested this year with work stress

I had a private plan 10 years ago before I had to cancel it due to losing my job during the recession, I was paying 40 quid per month then for a decent private plan when now I might not even get for that amount the most basic public plan

Dravokivich

Cant afford it. Surprised to read a comment above about some people with a medical card also have private health insurance. Surely they shouldn't have a medical card then?

Stateofyou

What's the best way to go about figuring out what plan is best? I've been to the hia.ie website and it pulls up 302 plans to search through. Can anyone recommend a good family plan, high coverage? Is dental included?

Foweva Awone

Dravokivich wrote: »

Cant afford it. Surprised to read a comment above about some people with a medical card also have private health insurance. Surely they shouldn't have a medical card then?

Well say for example in my situation, I qualify for a medical card (which I need for my GP visits and medication, neither are covered by my health insurance.) And my son and I are included on my parent's family VHI plan.

I defo couldn't afford health insurance myself at the moment, so my parents are paying for mine and the boy's until I'm fully back on my feet, financially.

MyAccount

I made claims totalling in excess of €17k in the last three years including an op which would have entailed a two year plus wait via the HSE - going private courtesy of VHI saw the surgery scheduled within three weeks - unfortunately medical stuff is going to be an ongoing feature for as long as live now so I reckon I will get my "investment" back.

Also my son need his appendix removed last year - thanks to VHI he was able to attend a private A&E and was being prepped for surgery within less than 3 hours of parking the car - op same night - thank you VHI as public system would have seen him waiting days to even see a doc, as he wasn't "sick enough" - if you can afford it buy (albeit hope you never need it)

seamus

Stateofyou wrote: »

What's the best way to go about figuring out what plan is best? I've been to the hia.ie website and it pulls up 302 plans to search through. Can anyone recommend a good family plan, high coverage? Is dental included?

Dental generally isn't included unless you go all-in.

There are 302 plans, but this is mainly because all of the insurers are legally obliged to allow you to buy every plan they offer. So if they have a plan aimed at corporate group schemes, they are legally required to allow you to buy that plan as an individual. That's why you'll see lots of plans with codes for names, like "PMI 35 17". These are corporate group plans, but you can buy them for yourself.

It comes across as an insanely confusing maze, but it's nothing like the US.

The cover that you need to prioritise depends on your point in life and how often you expect to use services. For example, if you're expecting to have (more) kids? Make sure you've got a plan loaded up on maternity benefits. Then change plan when you're done with your kids.

In general, the primary thing you buy insurance for is to bypass the public waiting lists for non-urgent procedures. Whatever you buy, the absolute minimum it should have is full cover for semi-private rooms in private hospitals.

Day-to-day cover is something that you can ignore when you're young (unless you see the doctor a lot), and then start ramping up as you get beyond 35. But if you have kids under 12, you want day-to-day cover.

If you do a lot of sport (or have done a lot of sport in your youth), look for a plan with good orthapaedic cover.

If you have a family history of heart problems, then look for something that includes decent cardiac care.

Ignore all of the other benefits that you don't care about, focus on the ones you do, and it'll be easier to sift through the insurance plans.

Remember of course that you buy insurance to cover unforeseen events. So in general the most comprehensive plan you can afford is best. But ensure that you prioritise the cover you most expect to need.

MyAccount wrote: »

Also my son need his appendix removed last year - thanks to VHI he was able to attend a private A&E and was being prepped for surgery within less than 3 hours of parking the car - op same night - thank you VHI as public system would have seen him waiting days to even see a doc, as he wasn't "sick enough" - if you can afford it buy (albeit hope you never need it)

When my first came along, my Dad asked if I had health insurance. He then advised me that in terms of the most important bills to pay, it was food, heat and health insurance. More important than taxes, more important than your mortgage. He raised four boys who spent plenty of time seeing doctors, so I trust he knows what he's talking about

Gael23

Dravokivich wrote: »

Cant afford it. Surprised to read a comment above about some people with a medical card also have private health insurance. Surely they shouldn't have a medical card then?

I’m one of those people. I suffer from a chronic illness and I can’t risk waiting for months to years on a public list when I’m not well. The medical card is not much help for going into hospital. I do appreciate some people just don’t have the money but for me it’s the last thing I’ll give up