Day operation/ consultant

C

clionaricho

Registered User
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So I have been referred by my doctor to get a small operation done, removal of a cyst. Anyway he asked me had I private health insurance which I do. So he referred me to a private consultant and said it would be paid for by my VHI. So I called the consultant toady to make an appointment and they told me that I would have to pay €150 which would not be paid by the VHI. So basically I dont have this money and it is a non emergency little op so I would be quite happy to go public.
Now I dont want to go back to the doc and pay another fee to get a referral letter so would my same one do and anyone know where I should contact?? Or do I have to suck it up and pay the outrageous conultant fee?
 
Ring your doctors secretary and explain you have the private referral letter but wish to go public instead as you cant afford the consultants fee, ask can the doc refer you publicly instead. You may be charged for the letter though (which is lousy as its the same letter addressed to someone else).
 
I think very few consultants work exclusively in the private sector, so have you checked if the consultant you were referred to takes public patients as well?
 
Thanks for your replies, my letter is not for a specific consultant so i am sure I could present this and go publicly but I dont know where I should go about it. I am in south Dublin ?
 
I think that in the public system, the GP sends the letter to the hospital.

I would agree that you should speak to the GPs secretary about getting them to send a referral letter to a public hospital.

Alternatively, you could contact the appointment department of your local hospital and ask them how you get an appointment.
 
If you don't have the cash this is irrelevant, but I think you can claim back these expenses above a certain excess from the VHI - I know you can from Aviva. I think it's worth more than the Med1 claim. Worth considering if there would be other medical bills. I think Aviva categorise "consultants" and "GPs" separately, with separate excesses though. If you stayed private, you should also be wary of a 'follow up' consultation with the consultant too, for another fee.
 


It depends on which VHI plan. On some of the family plans the excess is only €25 and they pay 60 per consultant visit, but Some plans have such a high excess that you have to spend €100's a year on consultants before you can get anything back.

I agree that the OP should be wary that the 150 initial consultant fee might not be the only cost incurred that the VHI will not cover.
 
THanks all for the replies. So I checked with the VHI and this is how ridiculous they are... I would have to pay the first 150 but could claim 60 back. THen for the op I would have to pay the first 125 and the VHI would pay the rest and yes then I would have to pay another checkup fee of 150 ...what a JOKE having VHI!!!!!
Anyway spoke to local hospital and banged the letter off to them
Lets see how long the wait is now !!

Thanks
 
Yes Cliona, please come back and tell us when you get yout appointment. Conventional wisdom says that you should have a much longer wait in the public queue, it will be interesting to see.

Wishing you all the best and a speedy treatment!
JB
 
what VHI policy do you have? i got diddled a bit i think this year - have back problems and was mid a bad one when my policy renewal was up and in my medicated state agreed to change to a hospital only plan.... several €1000 later i can't claim any day to day medical exps back... so annoyed!
i have to have a procedure in 2 weeks time and i have to pay the first € 125 to the hosp aswell....
vhi does not (depending on plan) cover the initial consult or further consults.....
bit annoying at times!!!! i'm on the search for a new plan or company come renewal time!!
 
I put in a claim for a consultant visit last week with VHI. Visit was €140 (one of the cheaper ones i've been to!) and i got €100 back in the account today.

Where i have been to consultants and required a procedure (i have had a few back procedures) I have had to pay the ocnsultant fee myself, claimed it back on day to day expenses (as above) but never had to pay anything for the procedure itself, no excess or anything. Take your policy to the consultant - they will be able to tell you if they are covered for the procedure. If you go public, i believe that you will join the waiting list at the bottom, as if you were referred as a public patient.
 
The plans that have been mentioned in this plan are very different. One needs to be careful about downgrading cover. In order to get the €100 back for a consultant's fee with VHI one would need to be paying a multiple of clionaricho's plan. Comparing apples and oranges. VHI don't allow any changes to plans after renewal.
 
Shock horror

So thanks all for the replies and I sent off my letter to local hospital and would you believe that I got an appointment for WAIT for it ...June... I cant believe it was expecting something closer to a year or two. So I am now delighted that I went public. For once I am impressed with our health system
 
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