Renewal on 30/12/14

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newfarm

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For many years my wife and I were on VHI B and then B Options and finally Nurses and Teachers Plan.

Last year I changed to Glohealth Best Plan.

I contacted Cornmarket this week. Based on some quick questions the suggestions are:
Aviva Health Plan 16.1 ( 2273 E)
Laya Connect Care 100 ( 2372 E)
VHI PMI 3613 (2246 E)

We are both healthy thank God with very few GP or consultant visits. My wife had colon surgery 4 yrs ago. We have family histories of heart disease, cancer and arthritis, but we are not aware of any thing in relation to ourselves. Perhaps a possible need for a cataract operation sometime in the future, but not even on agenda so far. Aged 64.

I don't mind a reasonable amount of excess. I am concerned that I am reducing my level of cover each year , but then I really cant say what I need to be covered for.

When policies ilke 16.1 or 3613 are pulled out of the hat, I wonder how many other excellent and suitable policies remain in the hat.

So I am hoping to draw on the obvious expertise of the group.

Thank you,

Gene
 
For example, on the Laya create your own plan, I picked:
Comprehensive Hospital Cover, which includes access to High-tech hospitals and a semi private room in a private hospital
Excess of 250e
'Standard' for everyday expenses

The result was "Flex 250 Explore" at € 744.12 per person.

Reducing the excess to 125e almost doubles the premium.
 
Thank you Odyssey for your prompt and very interesting suggestion.

In your view am I creating any future problem for myself in relation to changing to another policy ?

Put another way............what am I loosing from moving from the Teachers policy or my current Glohealth Policy in moving to Laya ( is it all excess? No talk about orthopaedics here........) Or in terms of what it covers how is this policy inferior to the Aviva 16.1 or the VHI 3613?

The HIA news is very interesting.............so when would you say in December I should move?

Thank you very much for sharing your expertise.
 
This link compares your current plan against 2 of the Laya ones...
[broken link removed]

Really you have to make the call yourself about what level of excess & nightly shortfall you are prepared to carry, which seems to be the most significant difference between the plans.
e.g. you could save 500e on the price per person between different plans, but that saving would be wiped out after 4 nights in some hospitals. Some people set aside the saving in their emergency fund. Some people would rather have the peace of mind of knowing what their possible expenses are in advance.

Because of how the health companies release the plans, I would say wait and see what the prices are like from 1st December.
 
Hi Newfarm, in addition to contacting Cornmarket I also contacted www.lfs.ie. Regarding any excesses or copayments, they suggested it could be possible to negotiate these (down/away) in the event of, say an orthopaedic operation, as they are all in the market as businesses and need to make money. Given the differences in premiums available when taking a higher excess/copayment it may be worth the risk. I suggest you give Lyons a shout to discuss the differences if , like me/most people, you are wary of change.
 
Thanks to both Horusd and Odyssey06 for taking time to share. This is a real "eye opener" and I am beginning to see some clarity. Fear of the unknown blurs rational thought frequently!

I have no particular interest in the top end private hospitals unless some life threatening procedure can only be addressed in such a hospital. I am interested in being able to access the best possible medical care when it is needed and the location of my bed is of minor significance. Living in the south east I am happy to go to Waterford or any hospital in Dublin or Cork.

The Laya250 seems to offer access to the same level of treatment as the others. If I am reading it correctly the 250 excess doesn't apply to a day procedure? In the current year we had 2 day procedures ( colonoscopy and removal of moles).

By moving to Laya250 we save around 1400 which is sufficient to meet 6 excesses of 250. If the past is any indication of the future...........we have had only 1 hospital stay in the last 30 years, so with the help of God, we should have some confidence in taking up the excess risk.
 
newfarm said:
The Laya250 seems to offer access to the same level of treatment as the others. If I am reading it correctly the 250 excess doesn't apply to a day procedure? In the current year we had 2 day procedures ( colonoscopy and removal of moles).
Click to expand...

I think you would have an excess for a day case in a private hospital as follows:
250e with "Laya Flex 250"
100e with "Laya ConnectCare 100"
0e with "GloHealth Best Plan"

As this is probably the most typical procedure accessed, you really need to pick a level of excess you're happy with e.g. 2 procedures a year would hit you for 500e on the cheapest plans.
A middle ground of 100e excess might be more manageable in that light.
Or, as you say, set aside the savings offered by Laya Flex 250 into your emergency fund which could cover excesses (or any other household emergency).
 
The create your own scheme with the 250 excess seems to have no excess on the day cases but check the hospitals covered, my local private one was not covered.
 
I think the information is presented on the Laya site in a slightly confusing manner. I would trust the HIA site here.

Laya displays:
Day-case Full cover (including Beacon Hospital) Semi-private Full cover (including Beacon Hospital)
Private €100 shortfall per night (including Beacon Hospital). Full cover in Mater Private Cork
Specified Orthopaedic Procedures Full cover in all private Hospitals with exception of the Galway Clinic and the Beacon Hospital where Orthopaedic shortfall will apply.
Private hospital excess €250 excess per claim

So I understand that to mean that the excess applies to the day-case as they are in the same table.
 
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