Hi machu,
The additional fee that your friend will pay on top of the premium price is called a 'loading' relating to Lifetime Community Rating.
The loading is calculated as follows; for every year that a person is older than 34 years, there is a 2% loading applied.
So at the moment your friend is 53 years of age, which means he is 19 years older than 34 years of age.
His loading will be 19 x 2% = 38%. If he takes out a health insurance policy before he is 54yrs, the loading will stay at 38%,
if not it will increase to 40% loading.
This extra loading will apply every year from now on.
The following plans are worth considering, including your current plan;
1. Laya Control 600 Connect; price 883 + 38% loading 335 = 1218pa; all public, private(including private room fully covered) and 3 hi-tech
hospitals covered; private/hi-tech excess 600 per admission, day case excess 175 per procedure. No excess to pay in any public hospital.
Note; the 600 excess does not apply to cardiac surgery in the 3 hi-tech hospitals in Dublin - Mater Private, Blackrock Cliinic and Beacon hospital.
2. Laya Control 600 Total; price 929 + 38% loading 353 = 1282pa; all public, private(including private room fully covered) and 3 hi-tech
hospitals covered; private/hi-tech excess 600 per admission, day case excess 175 per procedure. No excess to pay in any public hospital.
Note; the 600 excess does not apply to cardiac surgery in the 3 hi-tech hospitals in Dublin - Mater Private, Blackrock Clinic and Beacon hospital.
Day to day cover included on this plan, 1 euro excess, 15 refund for gp visits, 40 per consultant visit etc.
3. Laya Simply Connect; price 1100 + 38% loading 418 = 1518pa; all public, private and 3 hi-tech hospitals covered; private/hi-tech excess
capped at 150 x 2 max for all admissions per year, day case excess 50 per procedure. No excess to pay in any public hospital.
Note; the 150 excess does not apply to cardiac surgery in the hi-tech hospitals in Dublin - Mater Private, Blackrock Clinic and Beacon hospital.
Good day to day cover on this plan, 1 euro excess, 50% refund for gp visits, consultant visits, dental, optical, physio etc - subject to a max
refund of 500 per year(50% of 1000 = 500). I included this plan as an example of a capped low excess plan that ticks all boxes, just to show
the price difference.
4. Laya Essential Health 300; price 895 + 38% loading 340 = 1235pa; all public, private and Beacon hospital covered, cardiac fully covered in
Mater Private, Blackrock Clinic and Beacon hospital. Private excess capped at 300 x 2 per year for all admissions. Day case excess 125 per
procedure. No excess to pay in any public hospital. Note; there is just cardiac cover for the Mater Private and Blackrock Clinic on this plan.
No cover in these hospitals for any other type of surgery. Full cover for other surgery in Beacon hi-tech hospital and all other public and private
hospitals. I included this plan to show a plan with a lower excess, just to show the difference in price and for comparison purposes.
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Above is a varied selection of plans to choose from, showing hospital cover, prices and extras if applicable.
As a new customer to health insurance, there is a 5 year wait only for any pre-existing illnesses/conditions before cover is allowed.
After the first 6 months on the plan, any new illnesses are fully covered straight away.
Option 2 and 3 have day to day cover included, there is no waiting time for this cover, allowable from day 1.
I used 19 years in calculating the loading amount, if he takes out insurance when he reaches 54 years the loading amount will be calculated
using 20 years. Hope this helps with making choices.
The following link explains about Lifetime Community Rating.
https://www.hia.ie/consumer-information/lifetime-community-rating-explained
Regards, Snowyb