VHI PMI 41 15 suggested as Family plan plus Level 1 now too expensive for us.

[Create Space]

Hi Aam, I was relieved to find you from my Google search and hope you can help. As per my heading out policy has again increased in price and is outside our budget. Having had this policy for many years for two adults and two children now 17 and 20 I'm nervous changing. We are happy with semi-private cover in private hospital and it seems have no choice but to accept the 50euro excess day care and 75euro hospital excess in order to keep the costs down. But I'm worried that there are any other charges or per day room charges that they haven't made clear.

Also they named many cardiac and orthopaedic procedures which are not covered which are also confusing.

We want day to day expenses covered but as 1 member is over 50 we were told that means no cover for first 6 months expenses.

Is this a wise move to save 1,200 euro (17 year old moved to One family plan) or would another provider be a smarter option. We pay through employer scheme, deduction from pay at source is this a consideration also?

I'm looking forward to learning from your reply. Much appreciated in advance!

 

[snowyb]

Hello Create Space,

Welcome to AAM. Firstly, VHI PMI 41 15 is a very good plan, no mistake there. There are no other charges or per day room charges, if you are
admitted to a private hospital or hi-tech hospital for an overnight or prolonged stay - you just pay 75 on admission, nothing else applies.
Likewise for a day case procedure - just 50 per day visit, everything fully covered.
So it is a wise move to save 1200 euro.

Regarding day to day expenses cover for the person over 50, the only difference between PMI 41 15 and Family plan plus level 1 is the day to day
excess. PMI 41 15 plan has a 1 euro excess which means just 1 euro is deducted from your allowable expenses. Family plan Plus level 1 has a
25 euro excess for day to day cover which means that the first 25 euro is not allowed or 25 is deducted from allowable expenses.
The person over 50 will have a 25 euro excess for the first 6 months and a 1 euro excess for the second 6 months. You never lose cover if you switch, you stay on the cover you have until a waiting time is served. In this case, its 6 months waiting just for the day to day excess amount,
the actual refund amounts are identical.

Regarding the cardiac and orthopaedic cover, your current plan Family Plan Plus Level 1 has reduced cardiac + orthopaedic cover for the Hermitage(90%) and Galway Clinic (75% cardiac and no orthopaedic cover- hip and knee replacement surgery), Beacon Hospital 75% cardiac cover and no orthopaedic cover.
Both plans have 80% cover for orthopaedic cover in Blackrock Clinic and Mater Private and all other private hospitals. However if you choose
either Blackrock Clinic or Mater Private for this surgery, there is no shortfall. So in effect, full cover applies, just the 75 euro excess on admission.
Likewise, no shortfall applies to cardiac surgery (90% cover on Family Plan Plus Level 1) in both of these hi-tech hospitals, again just the 75 euro excess on admission.

I would definitely recommend VHI PMI 41 15 for the 2 adults and the 20 yr old. For the 17 yr old, I would go for 'One Plan Complete' price 158,
which has no hospital excess as before. This is on offer at half price also.

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Regards, Snowyb