Using private health insurance while having a medical card?

Orlak2410

Is it possible/legal to use private health insurance while having a medical card?
I live alone and have a medical card but I'm still on my family health insurance policy.

splinter65

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Is it possible/legal to use private health insurance while having a medical card?
I live alone and have a medical card but I'm still on my family health insurance policy.

What is it that you want to do exactly?

endofrainbow

why wouldn't it be legal?

splinter65

endofrainbow wrote: »

why wouldn't it be legal?

Sometimes people confuse “legal” with “allowable”.

SourSessions

Lots of people have both.

johnb25

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Is it possible/legal to use private health insurance while having a medical card?
I live alone and have a medical card but I'm still on my family health insurance policy.

Perfectly legal.
Health insurance covers a lot more than a medical card does.
Might have some explaining to do, depending on why you were given a medical card. If it is on the grounds of income, is the value of your health insurance included?

Foweva Awone

Yep I have both, it's never been an issue.

micosoft

Many seventy year olds have private health insurance on top of their entitlement to a medical card. If anything you are reducing the states costs if you use the insurance. Not an issue.

splinter65

johnb25 wrote: »

Perfectly legal.
Health insurance covers a lot more than a medical card does.
Might have some explaining to do, depending on why you were given a medical card. If it is on the grounds of income, is the value of your health insurance included?

There’s no explaining at all. The medical card application form asks nothing about health insurance and having it is of no consequence to your entitlement.
Most over 70s in particular would have both very far reaching health insurance and medical cards.
What you cannot do as regards treatment is switch between the 2. If you ask to be referred privately then you are subject to the terms of your health insurance and you will pay the excess as normal.
If you are admitted to hospital they will ask if you have health insurance. If you say you have then your treatment will proceed privately.
You can’t say “yes I have health insurance” in the hope of getting seen quickly and having a comfortable private room and then object that you have a medical card when the bill comes.

Orlak2410

splinter65 wrote: »

What is it that you want to do exactly?

I need to get a knee mri scan

Orlak2410

endofrainbow wrote: »

why wouldn't it be legal?

Just thought that if the powers that be found out somehow that you can afford to have private health insurance you shouldn't have a medical card

Orlak2410

johnb25 wrote: »

Perfectly legal.
Health insurance covers a lot more than a medical card does.
Might have some explaining to do, depending on why you were given a medical card. If it is on the grounds of income, is the value of your health insurance included?

I live alone and was deemed eligible taking into account my income. Its my parents that pay the health insurance for my whole family.

august12

Orlak2410 wrote: »

I need to get a knee mri scan

Check with your insurance which hospitals will cover the MRI, you can check this online or you can ring the health insurance, you will need to be referred by your GP, this is normally the procedure anyway.

jimmycrackcorm

Orlak2410 wrote: »

I need to get a knee mri scan

That's the advantage of PHI - you can get it done sooner. Albeit if it is serious, then the public system can be just as quick.

johnb25

Orlak2410 wrote: »

I live alone and was deemed eligible taking into account my income. Its my parents that pay the health insurance for my whole family.

Where employers pay health insurance on behalf of employees it is counted as income, and taxed. Strictly speaking probably the same for means test, but not sure how it would get found out.

splinter65

johnb25 wrote: »

Where employers pay health insurance on behalf of employees it is counted as income, and taxed. Strictly speaking probably the same for means test, but not sure how it would get found out.

You don’t understand the concept of the medical card means test.

johnb25

splinter65 wrote: »

You don’t understand the concept of the medical card means test.

Thanks, that helped me a lot.

Orlak2410

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

That's the advantage of PHI - you can get it done sooner. Albeit if it is serious, then the public system can be just as quick.

The public system won't cover an mri because they are quite expensive. I could get an xray but that wouldn't be able to determine the problem.

Orlak2410

johnb25 wrote: »

Where employers pay health insurance on behalf of employees it is counted as income, and taxed. Strictly speaking probably the same for means test, but not sure how it would get found out.

Well they don't ask when you're being assessed so I wouldn't say they could penalise you even if they found out somehow

nothing

Orlak2410 wrote: »

The public system won't cover an mri because they are quite expensive. I could get an xray but that wouldn't be able to determine the problem.

That makes no sense. If you need an mri for a diagnosis, the medical card will cover it.

johnb25

Orlak2410 wrote: »

Well they don't ask when you're being assessed so I wouldn't say they could penalise you even if they found out somehow

I assumed it would be counted as income in the same way as it is for tax, and therefore part of someone's means. Thanks.

splinter65

johnb25 wrote: »

Thanks, that helped me a lot.

I explained to you in a response to one of your other posts that the medical card means test doesn’t involve health insurance but you came back again in another post insisting that it does.
You don’t grasp the concept or you wouldn’t keep repeating yourself.

dartboardio

Of course it's fine...

It's your money, you can pay out for private health insurance if you wish to do so, instead of waiting years on a public list for public assistance or healthcare.

And no, they don't take into account any health insurance payments either (in the medical card means test)

only life insurance, mortgage protection, mortgage, travel to work, childcare, rent, as costs

and no, the 'powers that be' wouldn't cancel your medical card just because you can afford to pay for health insurance, that's completely irrelevant, and could be paid for by someone else, or savings that you have (which you are also allowed...)

Orlak2410

nothing wrote: »

That makes no sense. If you need an mri for a diagnosis, the medical card will cover it.

My doctor told me that it wouldn't be covered so I said I would go for an xray but then changed my mind as I don't want to be exposed to radiation unnecessarily