VHI worth it?

murphyebass · 14-02-2020 10:30pm

Op I read that as VHS

Hilarious

what2do · 14-02-2020 10:57pm

A friend of mine was taking about getting rid of her health insurance and I randomly said.... you just worry that if you cancel it something will happen

.... she said this kept going thro her head, she didn’t cancel it and weeks later ended up having a knee surgery!

It’s one of those things that feels like a waste of money until you need it!

rn · 15-02-2020 7:20pm

Hospital bills are astronomical. They are also unpredictable. A straightforward tiny, one day procedure will cost between 2k and 5k. Have complications and require a hospital stay budget 1k per day plus medicines, if going private. Hospitals don't vet peoples finances and rarely take payments upfront. Bottom line health insurance opens door to quality care. Public is Russian roulette.

Zebra3 · 15-02-2020 7:57pm

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Moronic advice.

You'd be a fine recruit to a debating team. :rolleyes:

Esel wrote: »

Realistically, no-one is ever going to do that.

What can you do?

Redneck Reject71 · 15-02-2020 8:10pm

To be honest the health care here is confusing to me.If your on the government medical care your thrown on a list that could be 18 months or more to be seen. But if your on private your seen much faster. It's the same specialist everyone sees so why is there such a gap whether your a paid or not? And to be honest, the hygiene in Limerick hospital is the same standard I saw in field hospitals on the battlefield.

In saying that, the healthcare in Mexico isn't up to standards either, but they do treat everyone as fast as they can and don't prioritize ones who have public or private insurance. Here you'll be dead by the time you see your scheduled specialist.

celticWario · 19-02-2020 1:32pm

I'm having some joint issues and I'm worried there might be a tear which could require surgery, is it still possible to sign up for health insurance with the intention of using it immediately? I saw someone write about "probation" does that mean you have to be paying for a while before you can avail of any of the benefits?

rn · 19-02-2020 9:52pm

All policies have buffers before you can claim. Also you will not be able to claim for pre existing conditions, no matter how long you wait. Also I believe we've age adjusted community rating. Rewarding people who join earlier in life, while costing more for those that join later.

shockwave · 19-02-2020 10:24pm

rn wrote: »

All policies have buffers before you can claim. Also you will not be able to claim for pre existing conditions, no matter how long you wait. Also I believe we've age adjusted community rating. Rewarding people who join earlier in life, while costing more for those that join later.

You have to wait 5 years when you join before you can claim for a pre existing condition

One eyed Jack · 19-02-2020 10:52pm

rn wrote: »

All policies have buffers before you can claim. Also you will not be able to claim for pre existing conditions, no matter how long you wait.

shockwave wrote: »

You have to wait 5 years when you join before you can claim for a pre existing condition

This isn’t necessarily true in all cases either. Just putting it out there but I had a pre-existing condition when I joined my employers group scheme back 20 years ago, kept up the policy while I was self-employed, and then joined a different group scheme provided by my current employer. Had already had a hip operation done at 22, then a hip replacement last year. There was never any issue with any insurer that it was a pre-existing condition and no waiting times before I could claim. As it turned out, the total cost of hospital stay and operation was a lot less than I was expecting!

Stateofyou · 20-02-2020 12:07am

Life is a pre-existing condition. Utter bs, it should be illegal for insurance companies to do this. What happens when people get seriously sick or even die because they can't afford an out of pocket expense to treat a health condition that insurance won't cover.

rn · 20-02-2020 8:20am

That's what public system is for. There's no difference between quality of care in public and private systems, or so we're told. The difference is the length of queue to get treated.

It would be uneconomic if people could pick and choose when to join health insurance.

Eggs For Dinner · 20-02-2020 8:40am

Stateofyou wrote: »

Life is a pre-existing condition. Utter bs, it should be illegal for insurance companies to do this. What happens when people get seriously sick or even die because they can't afford an out of pocket expense to treat a health condition that insurance won't cover.

So you think it's OK for someone to take out a policy only because they know they will submit a claim for thousands immediately?

Look up the definition of insurance

Stateofyou · 20-02-2020 2:03pm

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

So you think it's OK for someone to take out a policy only because they know they will submit a claim for thousands immediately?

Look up the definition of insurance

Yes. You look up the definition of insurance and look into other countries who have a better system while you're at it. It's a pool of money there when needed. People deserve to live, ffs. What a comment. If it were you or your loved on in that position you'd change your tune quick enough. If other countries can get it right, even the US who have made it illegal for insurance companies to base coverage on pre-existing conditions (and there are no waiting conditions either), then there's no excuse for it not work like that here too.

celticWario · 21-02-2020 1:36pm

So if I'm reading this right, if I get health insurance, then go to a doctor and request some scans on my joints because I have joint pain, the vhi will turn around and say "nope, you were in pain before you saw the doctor no coverage for you"?

PommieBast · 21-02-2020 2:10pm

rn wrote: »

Also I believe we've age adjusted community rating. Rewarding people who join earlier in life, while costing more for those that join later.

2% for each year over 34.

rn · 21-02-2020 9:52pm

celticWario wrote: »

So if I'm reading this right, if I get health insurance, then go to a doctor and request some scans on my joints because I have joint pain, the vhi will turn around and say "nope, you were in pain before you saw the doctor no coverage for you"?

It's more than likely a no. However each policy has different requirements.

And there's always the public system for you. The quicker you are into the system, the better.

LuasSimon · 13-05-2020 4:47pm

Anyone get letters about a reduction in their premium for 3 months, i havent yet anyways.
Just VHI said on April 20 they write to all customers informing them of a circa 50% reduction in their policy for 3 months in May

VHI worth it?

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