Health Insurance & Children

M

miss-smith

Guest
I am currently reviewing my health insurance for my family (2 adults & 2 small children). I am currently with VHI under the family plan plus.
My question: What is the reason (if any) for insuring children for hospital care? If they ever did need hospital care then surely it would be in one of the children's hospitals which are all public. I can understand covering them for outpatient care and GP fees but not hospital care or am I missing something? What do most people do? I just don't want to be paying insurance companies any more than is necessary....Thoughts?
 
what about just getting healthsteps for the children?? that means you get money back for doctors visits and specialists and the healthsteps is much cheaper than just a plan option as far as i can remember
 
miss-smith said:
If they ever did need hospital care then surely it would be in one of the children's hospitals which are all public.
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Yes. Same as for adults.

[broken link removed]
Entitlement to free care

Everyone is entitled to public in-patient and out-patient services but some people may have to pay some [broken link removed].

Entitlement to free care means that you are entitled to a bed in a public ward and free consultant services while you are there and to out-patient services in a public hospital.

If you avail of private treatment either in a [broken link removed], you have to pay for your maintenance and treatment.

The [broken link removed] in a public hospital is set from time to time.

If you are not ordinarily resident in Ireland and are not entitled to free or subsidised health services as a visitor to Ireland, you have to pay the full economic cost of the service. This means you pay for the full economic cost of all the services provided, including maintenance, cleaning, etc., in addition to medical and surgical costs. If you use a public bed, you also have to pay the full economic cost.

Your entitlement to free care is the same in specialist as in general hospitals.
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I am in the same position as the poster here. Am reconsidering whether there is any point having the children on VHI cover. For an adult there is an option of going privately should the need arise - my understanding is that there is no such option for children. Am I correct in this? Is there any advantage to having the kids covered by VHI?
 
Happy Girl said:
For an adult there is an option of going privately should the need arise - my understanding is that there is no such option for children. Am I correct in this?
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Of course not. You can go private for any sort of medical care if you so choose!
 
I only look at having VHI as a 'fast tracking' system for non critical illnesses. For example, assuming a little one has tonsillitis or a hernia etc one would assume that having private insurance would get them to a consultant and into hospital faster, rather than going on a waiting list.
 
The reason for getting health insurance for children is not to attend a private hospital or get a private room, but to be able to attend a consultant privately.

This stinks, but if your child needs grommets or some other minor operation, the public waiting list can be very long and if you attend a consultant privately, you may be able to get treatment quicker.
 
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