Private Medical Insurance

Another benefit to consider with Level Health for some people is that you get 15% off car insurance policy's and 50% off home insurance with Aviva, that saved me €360 this year. Worth considering when doing the comparisons.

Please explain to be the benefits of having private medical insurance in this country in this day and age.

Read the small print on these policies. You're not guaranteed a private room and they only cover the most minor of elective procedures.

There's no private Oncology treatment in Ireland, you'll be in the same bucket as everyone else.

My dad went to his GP. Bloods for his prostate were fine but my sister (a doctor) told him to get referred as they looked odd to her. My GP referred him publicly but my Dad called up and said he wanted a private referral.

Dad went to the consultant, had it reviewed, had a scan, had his prostate removed, turns out there were cancerous cells but it was all contained. That surgery was a little over a year ago. He got a letter in the post the other day asking would he like to still be on the public waiting list.

Insurance does not just cover the most minor elective surgeries. It covers quite a bit. It's not about a private room it's about access to care and knowing you're not going to put yourself in debt to do so or sit on a waiting list for years.

My 3 year old needed an adenoidectomy and grommets recently. Saw a private consultant within 2 weeks of referral and had the operation the following week. Have friends with a toddler on the waiting list for grommets for over 18 months now. At that age any difficulty in hearing can affect speech and understanding so no child should be waiting. It's a disgrace that this is the way the health system has gone, particularly when it's the same consultant doing the work both public and private!

Reduced waiting times and access to different consultants.

For people already with health insurance, I would suggest you check the personalised packages that can be added.

For Irish Life Health plans, the enhanced protection package (rather than sports and travel) includes a 50e contribution towards chickenpox vaccination, per course. 2 kids born pre 2024, 2 courses needed, that should cover 200e of the overall vaccine cost.

Wow thats great to know. The renewal is Jan 1st so just starting to look now. Thanks again.

This is a very useful thread. Comparing & figuring out which medical insurance plan to go with is insanely complicated. Thanks OP for starting this thread.