VHI worth it?

I have to say I let mine lapse when times were tight but I had a bad run of health and then a car crash and really regretted it.Ironically when money abounded but I worked a 6/70 hour week I could never have taken the time off for hospital & doctor visits nor would I have spent the e100 a visit two or three times a week for physio, nor been able to justify all the scans/MRI’s etc at 4/600 a go. But -it lapsed and now I have a pre-existing condituon & the price of new coverage or being sble to get new coverage will be an issue.


But, having watched a loved one be terribly sick and die and the massive difference between public and private care (6 in a 1980’s ward in Beaumount versus Beacon private) I would really say to make the sacrifice and keep it. If you or your kids are brought in as an emergency you can always say you dont have vhi - like half the city does -and then all treatment is free -but you may have long waits ( or not). If you or your eife, God forbid, get cancer or a degenarative condition that needs medicsl help quickly -then you really want your vhi & not to be waiting months for a list to free up all the time while you get worse & worse.

Having been treated for the aftermath of s car crash for the past year on the public system ( I dont have vhi snymore) it is a huge relief to be able to get treatment snd not worry about the cost or bills but the waiting times are long enough and you have to be on your game to protest and ask for things ( scans, consultants etc) as they are watching their costs snd department budgets. I would have had s full and proper diagnoses 8 months before if I had had private cover - my recovery and treatment is far behind what it should be and it will be much harder for the damage to bd fixed as it went complained about but undiagnosed for 8 months as there was no budget for cat scans unless if was ‘really needed’ ( wait list for consultant 4 months no consultant referral, no cat scan -then further lengthy wait for cat scan).

For so many loved ones you are really taking s gamble.

Good few years back I had problems with my eyesight & ended up in the eye & ear hospital - had I vhi -I said I wasnt sure as I might be on the family policy. whats the problem -waiting list for neurologist was 6 months. Turns out they thought I had a brain tumor (I didn’t). If I had vhi the appointment choice was Tuesday or Thursday.

you dont want to be making those choices for your children.

You should pay your VHI before you pay your mortgage. One is more important than the other.

Stop eating processed rubbish,don't smoke,cut down on the drink.
Lift heavy weights,do some high intensity exercise at near 80% your MHR.

Get your 8 hours sleep every night.Non negotiable this one.

Work on your mobility.Stay supple and flexible.

These wont guarantee you wont end up in hospital sometime but will go a long way to keep you out of it.

Oh and they are free.

hurler32 wrote: »

Hence is it worth having my 2400 a year vhi policy.??

That’s the whole point of insurance. It’s not a savings scheme, it’s basically buying peace of mind. Whether you’re getting value with the policy you’re paying for is the real question, and there’s no way of knowing that without knowing what else is available to you. Is there some reason you have to stay on that specific policy with that specific provider?

Health insurance nowadays is absolutely essential IMO, especially with the healthcare sector the way it’s gone in Ireland and Government doesn’t appear too bothered to address it, so health insurance is just a way of preparing or proofing yourself and your family in case of a time when you might find yourself really up shìt creek, and you’ll wish you’d remembered to take a paddle.

JustAThought wrote: »

But,. whats the problem -waiting list for neurologist was 6 months. Turns out they thought I had a brain tumor (I didn’t).
A neurologist in 6 months ??

A couple of years more like for a neurologist, though once he/she diagnoses you you can go straight into the public system I think .

Squiggle wrote: »

€750 for an MRI is about three times the price of what you can get it done for elsewhere.

In the terms of the OP's question Private health insurance gets you seen quicker for elective procedures .

If you are brought in an ambulance to a public hospital after an accident, stroke, heart attack etc. you will get the same treatment, public or private. The most expensive private plan will not get you a private room in this scenario if there isn't one available.

I'm reasonably sure it was €750, was about 10 years ago though so i could be wrong? Also, i was in agony and just wanted it to stop, i wasn't shopping around or going anywhere to save a few bob!

VHI is OK when you're getting on and things are likely to go wrong for you, to get any "value" out of it when you're younger you'd really need to be quite unlucky IMO.

In my own personal case it would have proved to be 50 grand down the drain. Most people my age would likely have similar stories, if you have a few spare grand a year then yea, go for it, if your job will provide it, then it's a great perk absolutely.

I just always found something more pressing to eat that money though.

Stateofyou wrote: »

Some questions I have~
If we pay our PRSI, why should we also have to pay for private health service in order to get the best outcome?
Why are the waiting lists so long for public health services?
Are we not collecting enough tax to pay for excellent and timely public health services?
It seems to me it would be more cost effective to raise health taxes a bit for a better Public Health Service so we didn't have to pay privately on top of PRSI. Surely it would save people money if we all contributed a bit more?
Which other countries have more successful models and what tax rate do they pay?

You always hear Canadians talking about how great their system is, and how they get to focus on getting well instead of dealing with bills and insurance company squabbles + rules.

"Pre-existing conditions" rule is BULLSH*T. Why can't we legislate that the f-k out of our system? Even the Americans sorted that one out.

If you could just wait until you were sick and then take out insurance then the companies would quickly go bust or premiums would be exorbitant.

seamus wrote: »

You should pay your VHI before you pay your mortgage. One is more important than the other.

I give this same advice to people who ask , health insurance is worth more than anything when the need kicks in .
Even if you had the money to pay cash for procedures , protocols mean a lot of private healthcare won’t take non insured cash patients, but will happily let you jump the queue once you have even basic insurance which you can supplement with extra cash payments if necessary to get better rooms etc.

During the downturn I almost let my families VHI lapse along with many other monthly payments , except I met an elderly wise lady at a funeral who convinced me to reinstate it. Luckily I was within a week of the 3 month total lapse of the policy which meant benefits were totally reinstated immediately, instead of a 2 year probation on new policies. Amazingly the old lady’s wise words were proven correct only 6 months later , as my wife got serious cancer and just as she recovered 2 years later I was on deaths door with a problem that started similarly to the the ops reflux. Payout in my wife’s case was north of 65k and me about 27 k , our older kids also benefited to the tune of thousands on minor stuff.
We’re both good now and I’ve no doubt a lot of the reason we’re both alive and well is due to the rapid response, superior specialists, and quicker access to the latest equipment in the better funded and more importantly better managed private care in a brand new up to date hospital.

So in our case we got and get great value and VHI payments will always take precedence in this household over everything else if the things turn bad again.

Also the only healthcare over a lifetime worth having is the government backed VHI , no point in false economy I’m my opinion with the also rans who are in it to profit.

It's not worth it, it's a waste of money for most people.

Ms2011 wrote: »

I was the same, never had anything more than a cold until the age of 37, then boom, IBD landed on my doorstep.
Would have been waiting 8 months for scopes on the public system despite being so ill I ate no more than a mouthful or so of cereal for 10 weeks and lost 2 stone. I finally gave in and went private (paid out of my own pocket), was seen & treated in 2 weeks to the tune of €2,200 but I was on the road to recovery.
All that said what I paid is still equivalent to what I would have paid over the year/years in insurance premiums. I was able to claim 20% back so all in all it cost me €1,760.

That's the sort of sums I do the cost of going private compared to health insurance. 10 years of premium s would get a lot of private care.
I do believe for things like cancer once you are in the system care is comparable, but thankfully I not experienced enough in our health system to have definite knowledgs. Wife and kids have health insurance, I don't.