Advice - pay public or let them arrange via private?

it's not like car insurance, there is no "no claims bonus", so claim away - it's why you pay a health insurance premium after all - to defray costs when you get in trrouble.

Unless you have a medical card there is a charge of €80 a night for a maximum of 10 nights in a 12 month period in a public hospital in Ireland. So if you don't put it through your health insurance & you do not have a medical card you would have to pay €800.

The medical insurance companies advise their customers to resist signing that form. You can see their financial interest in this but I happen to agree with them - if I'm paying PAYE and PRSI, why should my medical insurance pay for a service (treatment in a public bed in a public hospital) that I and everyone else is entitled to for free?

If you tell them your insurance details, you will effectively be paying for the service twice. I'd be pretty certain that your insurance will cover the daily charge, it's certainly in their interests to cover it, if it means their customers won't land them with the full bill for their stay in a public hospital.

Irish Life Health sent the following in an e-mail to their customers in October 2019....

If everyone with private insurance resists the temptation to sign that form, it will reduce premiums.

The HSE is simply milking people who happen to have private insurance. VHI, Irish Life etc. are handing over millions of their subscribers' money every year, for nothing.

Irish Life or Irish Life Health?

I got a rebate of €600 this year for a family of four so I'd check that 50 if I was you, that could be a mistake or you may be misremembering.

I don't pay premiums in the expectation of a rebate, I am paying for cover and peace of mind but I of course welcome any savings that are refunded to me.

Why should a taxpayer pay for a service that they should receive anyway

They recommend you make an informed choice rather than recommending you don't use it. The choice is then yours.

Unclear what you mean by hospitals not getting paid. Public hospitals are funded by the exchequer and salaries are set centrally also. Staff are paid irrespective of whether or not a Health Insurer is charged for a service you are already entitled to as a citizen. Private Health Insurance is to supplement the public System, not replace your entitlements under that system.

And I pointed out I received a 22% rebate this year so clearly the savings due to lower claims were passed on to me, the customer. Remember the Government also levy Private Insurance premiums in Ireland and you Premium payment includes that also.

I'm with Laya and they suggest you don't give your policy number if you're not getting anything extra. Think they're charged a few hundred a night rather than the public fee of €80.

They say they will reimburse the standard fee to me.

Think of Health Insurance as supplementary rather than replacement. If you need diagnostics, access to a consultant or elective treatment all of those have various waiting lists on the public system but with Health Insurance you can get a referral to a Service and access it privately in a shorter timeframe.

I'm not saying that this is a good system but it is the current system. If you have Private Health Insurance you have a chance to deal with health issues without depending on a waiting list that could stretch for years in certain disciplines.

Additionally many Health insurance policies cover some of your day to day expenses such as GP visits or scans, minor injuries clinics and of course people should and do reclaim these routinely.

It's not giving the insurance companies a free pass. What we do know is that our taxes will not decrease. We also know that the health services will swallow any money they get without too much of a visual improvement in services

What you have to hope os that natural competition will keep prices lower in the HI sector. All individuals have access to corporate plans. These companies will tender and shop around for HI for there employees. There are is at least four companies operating in Ireland I think. They will compete for market share, you have to hope that natural competition will allow you see the benefits of such actions.

15 years ago there was only two companies providing farm insurance in Ireland. The smaller one was acquired by a large insurance company. They started to grab a higher share. By moving to them at the time my farm insurance dropped by 30%. However when they reach a stage they allowed prices to rise again. However over the last 5m6-7 years three more insurance companies have entered the market. My premiums have dropped by 33% even though I have more covered and a higher level of cover.

Competition is all you can hope for