Public hospital patients with insurance face double charge for same care - how do we avoid this ?

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MrEarl

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Ref: Irish Independent Article:
Revealed: Public hospital patients with insurance face double charge for same care

Hello,

If my understanding of the situation discussed in the above article is accurate, then hospital staff are insisting on getting this waiver form signed by people before they know what care or facilities they will get - hence waiving their right to be treated as a public patient, despite the fact that this may then be the level of care and facilities provided.

Obviously the financial impact this practice is having on the private insurers and by extension, everyone who pays for private health insurance, cannot simply be ignored.

At the very least, what the hospitals are doing is managing the situation incorrectly, while at the other end of the spectrum, it's borderline fraud.

Am I the only one who is absolutely furious about this, now that it's been made very clear to me that one of the reasons my annual premium keeps getting increased is to pay for this "rip off" by the hospitals ?

How do we avoid this (or better yet, bring the practice to a swift and abrupt end) ?
 
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There was an interesting discussion on Pat Kenny Newstalk with Dermot Goode yesterday, explaining the origins of this and the arguments at
the time which were ignored. It starts after the 11 o'clock news;

[broken link removed]

Snowyb
 
This is really hard. The hospital is relying on people who are in a vulnerable position (i.e. Sick in A&E) to fully understand what they are signing. If there was a cooling off period after signing then perhaps the patient would have time to reflect from their trolley and assess if they were recieving private health care rather than public health care.

The hospitals know once you sign in, what health care you have (as far as I can see) so the separate staff member charged with getting you to sign is already targeting you, and it can happen they turn up with the form even before you have seen a doctor.

So all you hear is "sign" and "treatment" so of course you will sign to get the treatment you need. It is really hard to ask where is my private room and where is my choice of consultant before you sign.

Plus I think the hospital has rules that you cannot change your mind half way through a stay and go from a private patient to a public patient. So perhaps you are lucky and are in a private room and the nurse comes and moves you because they need the room for a sicker person or someone who needs isolation then you can't switch back to being a public patient.
 
There was a Nevin Institute seminar on health insurance some months ago.

I challenged the view of the presenter that private health insurance was being subsidised and that private patients were skipping the queue in public hospitals.

Normally at these seminars, I am the only one challenging the consensus view in the room. But I was followed on this occasion, by a speaker who called it a reverse subsidy and later by another speaker who called it a downright fraud on the private patient.

Brendan
 
Why can't the health insurers refuse to pay these charges unless the person receives some sort of private treatment?

I would have thought that collectively they would have the power to make a stand.

Alternatively they should offer plans that don't cover private treatment in a public hospital... the hospital can't claim what you don't have cover for.
 
I recall several patients have challenged this practice over the years and have contacted their insurance companies to object to the level of charges raised against their stay, i.e. no and type of diagnostics, some carried out 'needlessly' and the type of accommodation. The gist of it was that the insurance company did not seem to care as it's all agreed with the hospitals. The hospitals(Minister) will increase the charges for those who sign if they don't have the appropriate level of sign ups. Maximising revenue has been a key aim of hospitals for decades now. Not saying it's right, just saying it's so.
 
I was advised by my insurer during a demo/info session in the company that when asked to sign the form you simply tell them you will when you are put into a semi/private ward depending on your cover. Apparently that softens their cough as they usually can't source a private bed for you.
 
Daffodils said:
Why can't the health insurers refuse to pay these charges unless the person receives some sort of private treatment?

I would have thought that collectively they would have the power to make a stand.

Alternatively they should offer plans that don't cover private treatment in a public hospital... the hospital can't claim what you don't have cover for.
Click to expand...

Slim said:
I recall several patients have challenged this practice over the years and have contacted their insurance companies to object to the level of charges raised against their stay, i.e. no and type of diagnostics, some carried out 'needlessly' and the type of accommodation. The gist of it was that the insurance company did not seem to care as it's all agreed with the hospitals. The hospitals(Minister) will increase the charges for those who sign if they don't have the appropriate level of sign ups. Maximising revenue has been a key aim of hospitals for decades now. Not saying it's right, just saying it's so.
Click to expand...

Quoting both these to point out that the insurers hands are tied re: public hospital charges. The department of health legislated for the charges so the insurer must pay them, not paying is currently illegal.
 
Daffodils said:
Why can't the health insurers refuse to pay these charges unless the person receives some sort of private treatment? .....
Click to expand...

I would imagine it's a lot easier for them to just hike up their prices year on year :(

elcato said:
I was advised by my insurer during a demo/info session in the company that when asked to sign the form you simply tell them you will when you are put into a semi/private ward depending on your cover. Apparently that softens their cough as they usually can't source a private bed for you.
Click to expand...

While that may seem logical, most people are in a situation where the are ill and need help, the last thing they will risk doing is getting into a confrontation with the people they want to get assistance from :)


I'm sure this young man would love to hear from all of us on what we think about this shady practice and its impact on our wallets (or purses ;))...

Please take a moment and email: [email protected]
 
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