Is Irish Private Health Insurance cover restricted to Ireland only

nconroy

I have a good laya Private Health Insurance plan and my question is, from a medical viewpoint, do I need additional travel insurance when traveling within the EU.

I am aware of the EHCI card and the state medical cover it provides and very good cover it is. Have several times over the years had very good experiance using it..

Just would like to know if private health insurance plans , as a member of the EU, provides the same private health cover in the rest of the EU as in Ireland.

I have searched for an answer on the WWW but this specific topic is not well covered.

Just another question as to the full benefits of EU membership.

NewClareman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058231824/is-irish-private-health-insurance-cover-restricted-to-ireland-only

It is generally recommended that you buy travel insurance, but the health element will only kick in after your health insurance cover is used up.The level of cover depends on your policy and is listed under your plan benefits. As an example, Laya Simply Connect Plus covers Emergency hospital admission while overseas Up to €100,000 per episode of illness or injury. It also covers up to €2 million towards the cost of medical evacuation and up to €1,000 towards companion evacuation.

nconroy

Thanks NewClareman for feedback.

I have a vested interest in this topic as myself and my wife are in our senior years with existing conditions requiring occasional monitoring

I have the laya SimplyConnect Plus policy, which provides pretty good cover in Ireland, but only provides cover for emergency issues while travelling, but excludes existing medical conditions.

I would interpret this to mean any existing medical conditions (diabetes, cancers, respiratory, cardiac, etc) are no longer covered once you travel outside Ireland. Irish private health insurance cover is throttled back within the EU.

AngryLips

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118599910#Comment_118599910

VHI offer travel insurance that covers pre-existing conditions I believe.

munchkin_utd

What scenario would you need non emergency care abroad? You hardly are going to go for (planned?) chemotherapy session whilst on holiday.

Theres a brilliant scheme though for planned treatment abroad when the irish system simply cannot deliver, which seems to be quite often even with private insurance. Its a wonder more dont avail of it, you just get a form from the irish authorities and away you go.

To contrast how much spare capacity there is abroad compared to lack of it in Ireland, I have a german friend whose mother (in germany obviously) got diagnosed with some hip trouble and needed a hip operation . She literally could have done it the day after the diagnosis, but decided to voluntarily wait a week instead. She wasnt even on private insurance, just the standard equivalent of the irish medical card.

https://www2.hse.ie/services/treatment-abroad-scheme/treatment-abroad-scheme.html

nconroy

Yes, I have had a few visits to various public and private hospitals over the last thirty years in Germany, Italy and Austria, ski holiday issues, myself and kids when they were younger. Broken and sprained bones. Was always impressed by the quality of the public services. There was little difference between the two.

My wife has a enlarged aorta, not giving any problem at the moment, but who knows.

The wording in my laya policy:

"An emergency is defined as the onset of an acute illness which is sudden, unforeseen and requires immediate action and which prevents you from returning home to receive treatment."

The "unforeseen" word it the above could be a get out for any preexisting condition. Even though private costs are probably the same throughout the EU.