Key Post How to cut the cost of your health insurance

[Brendan Burgess]

I think that this would be a really key post. I don't know a lot about it, but I will start it anyway, and people can correct me or add stuff.

Demand a group discount
Even if you are an individual, you are entitled to a group discount. Make sure you are getting it. Check this post.

If your renewal date is just after a price increase comes into effect, cancel and take out a new policy just before the effective date.
There is no disadvantage to this. For the purposes of deciding cover, the start date is the date when you first took out insurance.
Does this still work? Where can I get a list of price increase announcements?

Use the Health Insurance Authority to compare prices
You can input your current plan details into this website and it will show the prices of similar packages from your insurer and from other insurers.

 

[tallpaul]

If your renewal date is just after a price increase comes into effect, cancel and take out a new policy just before the effective date.
There is no disadvantage to this. For the purposes of deciding cover, the start date is the date when you first took out insurance.
Does this still work? Where can I get a list of price increase announcements?

I'd be interested to know this. By way of background, our renewal was on 1 December last year which coincided with a number of price increases at Laya Healthcare (our provider). They were the best for us again this year but on speaking to the company representative, I asked could I not start my policy from 30 November. He said I could but that Laya operate a policy whereby cover taken out during a month only lasts to the end of previous month the following year i.e. if I had taken out the policy on 30 November, it would have only run until 31 October this year. The same end-date applies if I had taken out the policy on 2 November, 15 December etc. Thus we would only get cover for 11 months.

By renewing on 1 December, with the price increase, cover lasts until 30 November 2013. This worked out cheaper than, even with the price increase, than paying 1 year premium for what would effectively have been 11 months cover.