Irish Life Health Aviva Health Value (€850) Vs Aviva First Focus (€798) What do percentages mean?

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sandboy

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I've a related question, I hope it's appropriate to this thread.

It's renewal time and my current plan is Aviva Health Value (€850).

In "High Tech" hospitals it offers (among other provisions) 25% cover on a semi-private room and 90% cover, subject to €250 excess, for "listed cardiac procedures". Now, 90% sounds good, but my concern is with these percentages. It's 25% of what? And 90% of what? Say a heart procedure cost €50,000, this leaves me liable to pay 10% of 50,000 = 5,000 (gulp). As a lay person I've no idea what to expect in terms of overall room and procedure costs and this is a big unknown which leaves me feeling very unsure, rather than "insured".

I'm considering another plan they have: Aviva First Focus (€798). This offers cover in High Tech hospitals (Beacon only, Mater Private and Blackrock not covered) as follows: full cover in a semi-private room subject to €150 excess and €2,000 co-payment for "certain procedures". The €2,000 copayment is a lot, and with cover restricted to one hospital only, but at least I know what I'm in for, as compared to the percentage cover described above.

Can anyone offer any wisdom on this topic? I'm willing to accept an excess, but I don't like this percentage cover business.

Thanks for all the useful info in this forum, askaboutmoney!
 
sandboy said:
I've a related question, I hope it's appropriate to this thread.

It's renewal time and my current plan is Aviva Health Value (€850).

In "High Tech" hospitals it offers (among other provisions) 25% cover on a semi-private room and 90% cover, subject to €250 excess, for "listed cardiac procedures". Now, 90% sounds good, but my concern is with these percentages. It's 25% of what? And 90% of what? Say a heart procedure cost €50,000, this leaves me liable to pay 10% of 50,000 = 5,000 (gulp). As a lay person I've no idea what to expect in terms of overall room and procedure costs and this is a big unknown which leaves me feeling very unsure, rather than "insured".

I'm considering another plan they have: Aviva First Focus (€798). This offers cover in High Tech hospitals (Beacon only, Mater Private and Blackrock not covered) as follows: full cover in a semi-private room subject to €150 excess and €2,000 co-payment for "certain procedures". The €2,000 copayment is a lot, and with cover restricted to one hospital only, but at least I know what I'm in for, as compared to the percentage cover described above.

Can anyone offer any wisdom on this topic? I'm willing to accept an excess, but I don't like this percentage cover business.

Thanks for all the useful info in this forum, askaboutmoney!
Click to expand...

If you need a procedure, it is possible to get prices from the hospitals to see how much you would have to pay. 25% cover on a semi private room in Blackrock would still leave you with a sizeable bill. Not sure but I would imagine the price of a bed is close to €1000 a night.

You are not forced to go to these hospitals and if you are looking to pay about €800 a year, I would forget about them to be honest and compare the other elements of cover. If you really want proper cover for places like Blackrock and the Mater Private, you have to be willing to pay an awful lot in premiums.
 
Thanks Sunny.

Although you're not forced to go to the High Tech hospitals like Blackrock etc., would it not be the case that these are the only private hospitals that can do some procedures, e.g. cardiac? And that the only other alternative would be to go public?

I don't need anything done (I hope!), just trying to cover the bases.
 
sandboy said:
Thanks Sunny.

Although you're not forced to go to the High Tech hospitals like Blackrock etc., would it not be the case that these are the only private hospitals that can do some procedures, e.g. cardiac? And that the only other alternative would be to go public?

I don't need anything done (I hope!), just trying to cover the bases.
Click to expand...

You can still go private in a public hospital.
 
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