Health Insurance Advice

T

thespecialon

Registered User
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211
Hi all,

Hoping I could get some recomendations on which company + plan health insurance cover I should go for.
Details are - Couple,Mid-20's,both healthy(as far as we know),non-smokers,occasional drinkers,no children but possibly within the next 2-3 years. which plan would be most suitable to us based on cost + level of care recevied if required in the future?

Thanks,
T.
 
Sure - the best advice for young healthy people is that they do not need health insurance. You would pay way over the odds to pay for the smokers, the elderly and the chronically ill.

Put the premium into a unit linked fund until you incur medical expenses.

Brendan
 
Well, if you are planning on starting a family in 2-3 years time, it would be worth having insurance for the female half of the couple, starting 52 weeks before she gets pregnant, to keep your options open.
 
i didnt think health insurance companies upped their premiums if one was a smoker/old/ill etc. One price for all adults.

I suppose the best way to ring them and get their details and then compare yourself. Maybe they might have their own comparison sheet for you.
 
Accidents happen eve if your health is good . You could break your leg or fracture your nose playing sports and need to be seen to (its happened to me). The idea of putting the premiums into a fund isnt too bad.

Maybe you should wait until you have children before getting it as I think kids are covered for free ?
The biggest risk to not getting it is if the flat rate premium is abolished in the meantime but the consequences of that happening are unpredictable and since you are young that may or may not work out in your favor.
 
If you have kids, while you are covered by health insurance, then the kids are covered until your premium renewal date. Children, unfortunately, are not free.
 
There are some downsides to the VHI as well. Apparently, the maternity hospitals will charge you for some services if you have VHI, which they would otherwise provide you with free of charge. However, the VHI doesn't actually cover them.

Brendan
 
what Brendan is referring to is that as a private patient, you pay for some services which are available for free to public patients, but your health insurance will not cover. An example of this is blood tests and scans, but there are others.

As a private or semi-private maternity patient, VHI/BUPA/VIVAS do not cover the entire cost. This has been coverd in other posts.
 
I asked my friend for more information and this was her reply:

My point was that private health insurance doesn't always cover items which are covered by the public system. Hospitals try to channel people into either private or public. For instance, as a public patient you are entitled to a free scan if you are pregnant. In my experience, the service wasn't covered by my private health insurance, so I ended up paying for a scan when I went privately whereas the scan would have been free to me as a public patient. There are lots of other examples of this, such as hospitals charging private patients for blood tests etc if they go privately. I think holders of health insurance need to be aware of this. Often, it is wise for people to hold private health insurance, but not necessarily to claim under it on every occasion. But hospitals don't make this easy. They want you to make a choice between private or public, rather than encouraging you to use private or public when it suits your interest. I suspect that's because the hospitals charge the private health insurers more for certain services than they are permitted to charge the Department of Health.. I fear the hospitals have an incentive to get people to go private because they can charge the VHI/BUPA more for the service than the Department of Health pays. But it would be worth clarifying this point.
 
I am a private VHI patient paying an obstetric consultant privately. I was told to go to the public hospital for a 12 week scan before I met him at 16 weeks for first time. I did not have to pay, did not give hosp VHI number either.
 
Last edited:
dee06 said:
I am a private VHI patient paying an obstetric consultant privately. I was told to go to the public hospital for a 12 week scan before I met him at 16 weeks for first time. I did not have to pay, did not give hosp VHI number either.
Click to expand...

Hi Dee,
When did this happen ? You might get a bill in the post yet. Private scans are held in the same clinic in the public hospital. It would be normal for a private patient to have to pay. Either you haven't got the bill yet, or you got away with it.....
 
I had a baby last year, like Dee06 was a private patient and didn't have to pay for any scans ( had two "big" scans in addition to the regular ones with my consultant)
 
Just to let people know an oft-overlooked fact:
In any given hospital, the VHI in general cover less beds than Bupa or VIVAS.
For example, there may be 10 beds/rooms in a private ward, and while VIVAS and BUPA will cover all ten, the VHI may only cover 7. Thus if one of the non-VHI beds is free, the VHI patient is not entitled to be put into it, even if they are currently in a public bed and are looking for a private room. A BUPA or VIVAS patient in the same position would be entitled to be transferred into the said bed.
I know this sounds complicated, but the upshot is that contrary to popular opinion, you are more likely to get a private bed if you are with BUPA or VIVAS.....
 
Private accommodation with any health insurer is always subject to availability and there are no guarantees that you will get private or semi-private accommodation just because you are insured.
 
When I had my 2nd son, I went public like I did with my first, I have health insurance but didnt see the point of using it for my maternity as all maternity is free, my gp was free, I was offerend epidural like a private patient and after having my son, I was put into a private ward as all the public was full. 2 nights private accommodation on the public system. I dont think that really happens too often though!!!
 
even young healthy people can suddenly become ill and lmaybe need services of a consultant...what about lthe waiting time if you are relying on the public service
 
It's all a matter of risk assessment and peace of mind. Some (usually younger) healthy people with no major risk factors (e.g. risky lifestyle habits or family history of specific illnesses) might well decide that it's not worth their while taking out private health insurance (at least until they are older). Some may self insure by saving/investing the money that might otherwise go on insurance premiums towards funding medical expenses should the need to go semi/private arise. Some may be content to rely on the public health service. Others will decide that they do need/want it and the peace of mind that it brings. Horses for courses and it's hard to generalise since what's best for a particular individual really depends on their specific circumstances.
 
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