If you don't have a full medical card, there is a nightly charge for children who are admitted to any public hospital. 75 per night x 10. Maximum
amount 750 per year. So, health insurance covers this charge, at a fraction of the cost.
There are no private children's hospitals in Ireland, but some public hospitals have private childrens clinics and wards, also some private hospitals
offer a range of childrens surgery. The hi-tech hospitals Blackrock Clinic, Mater Private and Beacon offer a list of childrens surgery covered on plans that include hi-tech cover for children aged 3+.
So, there are plenty of positive reasons for having health insurance for children. The main reason is usually to have all the above extra options available if the need arises, when the only option on offer from the public system is maybe to wait 2-3 years for surgery.
NOTE; Temple Street and Crumlin Childrens hospitals deal with children upto the eve of their 16th birthday, unless they have been attending for
years with a particular condition, special exemptions apply in those cases. So, from age 16 to 18 years, they would attend adult hospitals. The full
range of public, private and hi-tech hospitals would apply at that age - depending on the cover included on their health insurance plan.
There are plans that just cover hospital cover without the day to day cover if preferred.
Couple of examples as follows;
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1. Laya Simply Connect; price per child 239pa; public,private and hi-tech hospital cover, + day to day cover, capped at 300pa.
2. VHI One Plan Choice; price per child 258pa; public, private and hi-tech hospital cover, limited day to day cover.
The plan including day to day cover is actually cheaper than the plan with just hospital cover.
Depending on your renewal date, there may be special offers in the coming months. VHI's half price offers on a range of plans ended from 1 Nov
2015.
Snowyb