Health Insurance Alternative plan with VHI ?

R

robert moon

Registered User
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Hi Folks ,

i’m almost 69 years old and I have a heart condition. I am with VHI paying €3722 p.a.

Can anyone recommend another plan and if possible I would like to stay with VHI ?

Thank you
 
Could you tell us the name of your plan?
Also while I sort of understand reticence to change providers, there really is no logical reason not to do so if you can get a better deal.
 

Health Insurance Comparison Tool | HIA

Compare health insurance plans across a wide variety of providers in Ireland. You can also compare your current health insurance plan with other plans available.
www.hia.ie www.hia.ie

Hi Robert, The above is a useful tool for comparing policies.

I've done a comparison with Level Health Plan D. Please note this company is less than a year old and there has been a number of complaints on customer service.

VHI Advanced Care Extra Day to Day: €3761.65.
Level Health Plan D: €2973.44.

The only disadvantage I can see on Level Health is a €1k Orthopaedic Cover co-payment and a €300 Ophthalmic Cover co-payment.

Level Health is better on excesses and an Outpatient limit of €3k v Vhi €2k.

You could take a look here https://www.totalhealthcover.ie/about_us
and with your high level of cover, perhaps consider paying for a consultation?
 
Last edited:
robert moon said:
if possible I would like to stay with VHI ?
Click to expand...

Hi Robert,

Know where you are coming from as I prefer to stay with VHI which as charlie007 says 'there's no logical reason' but like you I just feel more comfortable with them.

Having compared your policy as above with my own on HIA website would have to say that your day-to-day is not great for payments such as doctors/consultants but this may not be important to you especially if you have a GP card. The max of €2,000 allowance on that is not great.

To me it would seem that the policy is expensive because you have 100% orthopaedic and ophthalmic cover as most policies have a co-payment for those. You also have semi-private cover in Mater and Blackrock which can be hard to achieve also.

With regard to your specific cardiac cover it does say

The Blackrock Clinic, the Mater Private and the Beacon Hospital, certain Cardiac Procedures​

Please ask your insurer for further details.

Have asked VHI about this before and they are very specific procedures so you would probably need to enquire further on those.

From what I have read on posts on AAM in the past Laya do appear to be the company most inclined to provide the 100% on the ortho/ophth stuff on cheaper policies. It does appear to be on only a few policies though so perhaps they might be able to find you a cheaper one that covers those and meets your heart condition requirements also.

You might benefit from using the fee based service with www.totalhealthcover.ie to check into it further. People here have mentioned that totalhealth were very busy so the sooner you speak to them the better.

## Post crossed with Charlie's so similar replies :)
 
I can’t make head nor tail of the comparison tool. My VHI plan is Advancedcare complete 75 but it doesn’t appear on the comp chart.
 
Hi MelF,

MelF said:
I can’t make head nor tail of the comparison tool
Click to expand...

I don't like it either as its not very user friendly. Others here have complained about it too. As far as I can gather after completing Charlie's instructions above you need to complete the side panel to your requirements and you may get some other policy options.

As you are not comfortable with the basic comparison tool your best bet might be to ring your preferred companies and get their advice on what they think might be cheaper with equivalent/better cover and then use the HIA site to compare multiple policies.

To use the multiple policies option on HIA site:

1. Go to Compare my health insurance
2. Tick the box - I confirm that I have read the statement on this page and the terms set out in the Legal section of this website.
3. Go to Compare Multiple Plans
4. Select the provider - say in this case VHI and next option put in your policy reference
5. You will then get an option to add say Laya and then whatever policy you need to compare with yours.

This previous AAM thread might be worth a read but you would need to investigate the policy mentioned carefully in light of the many excesses.

I have used the Compare Many Policy options and compared your policy with mine and they are similar in price. The one thing that I do not like on yours is the €100 per night excess on private room. For what you are paying you could most likely get better cover.

Private Hospital Private Room

Covered with an excess of €100 per night; 80% cover for certain orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures with an excess of €100 per night




 
charlie007 said:
Open the comparison tool.
Click on Compare your current plan and enter 'Enhancedcare Complete 75'
Click to expand...
It’s not on the drop down menu though. And doesn’t seem to generate like for like comparisons, just a lot of options at wildly varying prices, and no real way to make a true comparison
 
MelF said:
It’s not on the drop down menu though. And doesn’t seem to generate like for like comparisons, just a lot of options at wildly varying prices, and no real way to make a true comparison
Click to expand...

1. Click on Compare your current plan.
2. Pick VHI Healthcare from Current provider.
3. Pick 'Enhancedcare Complete 75' ( Not Advancedcare complete 75) from Your Current Plan.
4. Click on COMPARE THIS PLAN.
5. Pick any of the plans you want to compare.
The number you pick will show on the bottom of your screen highlighted in red
6. Click on COMPARE (no) to see comparisons.
 
It is if you know what cover you want.

I find the HIA tool quite clanky, but at least if you do it my way;) you will get about 20 alternatives, all at the price you are currently paying or cheaper.

I then pick the nearest 5 (in price) and compare .

I think its worth mentioning that we could all be looking at different interfaces eg I've not seen the 2. Tick the box option you mention above.
 
The HIA comparison tool isn't ideal but, if used carefully, it can help to narrow down the focus to a more manageable number of plans offering appropriate cover for an individual's/family's specific needs.

I also found the aforementioned Dermot Goode podcasts/radio features very useful last time that I was shopping around. They helped me to select a competitively priced plan in his middle ground category.
 
Sue Ellen said:
2. Tick the box - I confirm that I have read the statement on this page and the terms set out in the Legal section of this website.
Click to expand...
Or this may be something presented the first time you visit like a cookies prompt? I didn't get it just now when I visited the HIA comparison page on mobile but I've been there before.
 
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