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VHI worth it?

2

Comments

  • #32
    salonfire
    Registered Users Posts: 3,078 ✭✭✭salonfire


    One eyed Jack wrote: »
    That’s lobbying for two very different, completely separate and unrelated things. It’s like saying my taxes fund social welfare and if Government cut social welfare, I wouldn’t have to pay so much tax. It’s nonsense really as one doesn’t follow from the other.

    As it happens, my employer pays for my health insurance premiums so I don’t pay any taxes on those. I don’t know had the OP considered it but it didn’t appear like the OP was interested in changing jobs to one where their employer covered their health insurance premiums.

    The HSE is a 18 billion black hole. Cutting it back to the emergencies, basics and oversight only would allow for substantial tax savings to individuals.


  • #33
    tdf7187
    Registered Users Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭tdf7187


    It's worth it in general but some policies are over-priced for what you get. Always worth shopping around or even having a review phone call with your current provider. €2,400 doesn't strike me as all that bad for a family policy, but who knows, you may be able to get a better deal without losing important benefits.

    The thing that grinds my gears is the inflation - the first year I got health insurance in my own right, as a working adult, I paid IR£150. A year. That was 1994, so hardly ancient history.


  • #34
    tdf7187
    Registered Users Posts: 1,597 ✭✭✭tdf7187


    salonfire wrote: »
    The HSE is a 18 billion black hole.

    No, wrong.


  • #35
    salonfire
    Registered Users Posts: 3,078 ✭✭✭salonfire


    tdf7187 wrote: »
    No, wrong.

    I stand corrected.



    It is a 21 billion black hole. My bad.


  • #36
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    sbsquarepants wrote: »
    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.

    We have HI.
    I've had heart surgery for an unknown problem in recent years and my wife had surgery last month.
    Both my kids have also availed of it.
    Worth every penny.


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  • #37
    andekwarhola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,638 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    It's moderately handy having it to partially pay for normal family stuff llike A and E or minor procedures but that's not why we have it. You could take the hit on that stuff handy enough. It's for the off chance that something serious happens, both in terms of cost and access.

    Don't shop around as work pays for me and my family but would do it if they didn't.


  • #38
    andekwarhola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,638 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    sbsquarepants wrote: »
    I don't have it, never did. Like all insurance it's money wasted until you need to claim!

    So, like any type of insurance in the entire history of insurance.


  • #39
    andekwarhola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,638 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    Squiggle wrote: »
    IIf you have a heart attack and are brought to hospital in an ambulance you'll be treated irrespective of whether or not you have health insurance.

    You keep saying this as if every serious health scenario involves rocking up to hospital in an ambulance.


  • #40
    Obvious Desperate Breakfasts
    Closed Accounts Posts: 8,474 ✭✭✭Obvious Desperate Breakfasts


    stratowide wrote: »
    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.

    All the young advanced cancer patients I know who did some or all of those things...

    OP, yes, it’s worth it. It’s trite but health truly is wealth.


  • #41
    Deiselurker
    Registered Users Posts: 182 ✭✭Deiselurker


    Also the public health system is not fully free as if you are admitted to a public hospital and don't have a medical card or health insurance you are charged 80 a night up to a maximum of 10 nights in year. 800 bill would be a lot for many people. You can take out cheap insurance plans that will cover this.


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  • #42
    coffee_cake
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Politics Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 81,310 CMod ✭✭✭✭coffee_cake


    I keep misreading this as vhs and getting confused


  • #43
    Squiggle
    Registered Users Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭Squiggle


    byhookorbycrook wrote: »
    Unless you happen to have it “ out of hours,” in Waterford hospital.
    Even with VHI, there was an 18 month delay to see a neurologist in Dublin at the time I needed to find one .

    How would private health insurance help you in an out of hours situation, where you had a heat attack?


  • #44
    Squiggle
    Registered Users Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭Squiggle


    andekwarhola wrote: »
    You keep saying this as if every serious health scenario involves rocking up to hospital in an ambulance.

    What I've said is true for serious situations, without the ambulance scenario. Elective procedures are cancelled all the time to facilitate serious cases, both public and private.


  • #45
    JustAThought
    Registered Users Posts: 5,323 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    Squiggle wrote: »
    How would private health insurance help you in an out of hours situation, where you had a heat attack?

    you go to your private a&e in Blackrock for example - and are saved.


  • #46
    Rodin
    Registered Users Posts: 3,130 ✭✭✭Rodin


    Waste of money for the young and healthy.
    The economics don't add up.

    Id have paid a 5figure sum this past 10 years and not used it once.

    Need a consultant opinion quickly? Just pay for it. 1-2 monthly payments would have it covered


  • #47
    Squiggle
    Registered Users Posts: 1,251 ✭✭✭Squiggle


    JustAThought wrote: »
    you go to your private a&e in Blackrock for example - and are saved.

    From Waterford? A public ambulance that you access through 999 will not bring you to a private hospital anywhere.

    Blackrock clinic advises you to ring 999 if you need an immediate ambulance response.


  • #48
    Zebra3
    Registered Users Posts: 13,848 ✭✭✭✭Zebra3


    Put the money into a separate bank account.

    I’d you ever need it, get a loan. If you never need it, you keep the money.


  • #49
    JohnnyFlash
    Registered Users Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭JohnnyFlash


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Put the money into a separate bank account.

    I’d you ever need it, get a loan. If you never need it, you keep the money.

    Moronic advice.


  • #50
    Esel
    Registered Users Posts: 22,002 ✭✭✭✭Esel


    Zebra3 wrote: »
    Put the money into a separate bank account.

    I’d you ever need it, get a loan. If you never need it, you keep the money.
    Realistically, no-one is ever going to do that.

    Not your ornery onager



  • #51
    JustAThought
    Registered Users Posts: 5,323 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    Esel wrote: »
    Realistically, no-one is ever going to do that.

    People often say that about vet insurance - a couple of hundred max a year - nobody guesses how much an animal xray or operation can be - they’re often the ones making tragic decisions based on economics when an accident happens.

    IP e200 a month can be a lot but its your family - you’d be a it time regretting it. And as I discovered while you can go to Dublin and now walk into a private clinic and pay cash for an MRI someone has to tell them how far up or down to scan - you are charged per area and area extension, the radiographer will not read it for you in your hospital as it was not comissioned by your consultant, your consultant will not read it even if they can because its a specialists job not theirs and they are not paid to write that report or interpret scans, - it goes on and on - the Irish system and unions and meshed union agreements going back decades make sure it is kept as an highly tight intertwined system where you cannot get them to step outside their protocols and payment system to suit you - even when it looks glaringly simple and easy. Someone should have a look at it - but of course they never will.


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  • #52
    murphyebass
    Registered Users Posts: 5,553 ✭✭✭murphyebass


    Op I read that as VHS

    Hilarious


  • #53
    what2do
    Registered Users Posts: 414 ✭✭what2do


    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!


  • #54
    rn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭rn


    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.


  • #55
    Zebra3
    Registered Users Posts: 13,848 ✭✭✭✭Zebra3


    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?


  • #56
    Redneck Reject71
    Closed Accounts Posts: 586 ✭✭✭Redneck Reject71


    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.


  • #57
    celticWario
    Registered Users Posts: 111 ✭✭celticWario


    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?


  • #58
    rn
    Registered Users Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭rn


    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.


  • #59
    shockwave
    Registered Users Posts: 1,770 ✭✭✭shockwave


    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


  • #60
    One eyed Jack
    Registered Users Posts: 23,655 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack


    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!


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  • #61
    Stateofyou
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,431 ✭✭✭Stateofyou


    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.


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