Health Insurance Irish Life Health Renewal - 2 adults + 2 teenagers.

JohnSp

Registered User
Messages
29
Hi all,

Not as straightforward a query as some others here so please bear with me.

I work for myself and have a Ltd Co. Until recently my wife worked for a big corporate as a normal PAYE employee and they provided family health insurance as part of her remuneration. It was Irish Life's Be Fit 2 plan and it covered both of us plus our 15 and 19 year old children both of whom are still in full time education.

My wife has left that job and is taking a career break for at least 12 months after which she'll likely change career but find a new employer and remain a PAYE employee.

The Irish Life Health renewal is due at the end of Dec and it's come in at €4,054.

We live in Sandyford so having access to The Beacon and Vincent's Private is and has been a very useful benefit. We're in our early 50's and healthy, both non smokers, keep fit etc.

I'd certainly appreciate tapping the knowledge within this forum to see what better value / more appropriate options might be available to us including whether it would be better/possible for my Ltd Co to provide me with family health insurance rather than paying for it out of tax paid income but perhaps that would just mean paying more tax which would be more or less the same thing.
 
57 views and no replies, is it safe to assume my query is too complex for discussion here or is it possible there are no better options than renewing with Irish Life for €4,054?
 
Hi JohnSp,

There are a few alternative plans to consider at better prices.
Details as follows;

1. Irish Life 4D Health 2; price 1277 per adult; price 314 per child; all public, private and 3 hi-tech hospitals covered. Private or hi-tech inpatient excess 150 per admission and day case excess 75 per procedure. Good day to day cover included.

2. Laya Simply Connect; price 1230 per adult; price 302 per child; all public, private and 3 hi-tech hospitals covered. Private or hi-tech inpatient excess
capped at 150 x 2 per year for all private admissions. Day case excess 50 per procedure. Good day to day cover included, 1 euro excess, refund of
50% for consultants, gp, dental etc upto a max of 500 per year. (50% of 1000 = 500).

3. VHI PMI 07 10; price 1240 per adult; price 311 per child; all public, private and 3 hi-tech hospitals covered, private or hi-tech inpatient excess capped at 150 x 1 per year for all private admissions. Day case excess 50 per procedure. Good day to day cover included, 1 euro excess, upto a max of 1000 allowable expenses per year per person.
NOTE; Price for a 19 year old is 418pa which is best price for a young adult. VHI are most competitive on price for young adults and children.

https://www.hia.ie/comparison-tool/#/plan-comparison?plansAndProfiles=W3siaWQiOjEsImFnZSI6MjYsIm1pbk1heFByaWNlIjpbMCw2NTAwXSwibWluTWF4RXhjZXNzIjpbMCw2MDBdLCJwbGFuVHlwZSI6MSwicGxhbnNTZWxlY3RlZCI6WzE0MjgsMTUyMiwxMjczLDE0MDldLCJwbGFucyI6eyJkYXRhIjpbXSwibG9hZGluZyI6dHJ1ZX0sInBsYW5zU2VsZWN0ZWREYXRhIjpbXSwiYXBwbGljYXRpb24iOnsidG9nZ2xlX3Njcm9sbExvY2siOmZhbHNlLCJwbGFuX2RldGFpbF9pZCI6LTF9fV0=

The Be-Fit 2 plan fully covers a private room in a private hospital, so the following links show a few alternative equivalent options.
https://www.hia.ie/comparison-tool/...vY2siOmZhbHNlLCJwbGFuX2RldGFpbF9pZCI6LTF9fV0=

https://www.hia.ie/comparison-tool/...jayI6ZmFsc2UsInBsYW5fZGV0YWlsX2lkIjotMX19XQ==


Regarding providing health insurance through your limited company, I am not qualified to comment or advise on this matter. It would be covered under
the 'Tax' forum. You could post a new thread relating to this query. There may be other posters here who could enlighten on this subject.

Regards, Snowyb
 
I forgot to mentiion that VHI are the only provider to allow children to be insured on their own, without an adult on the policy.
So if you want, the adults can be with a different company altogether. Also, you can choose different plans as adults, if it suits your
individual medical needs.
 
Hi Snowyb,

So things have moved on a little and after a short while of doing little and getting bored my wife has accepted an offer to go back to work with a new employer and the healthcare on offer is Irish Life 16.1 which appears to me to be a good step down from the Be Fit 2 plan we're currently on.

Given we live in Sandyford it's important to have access to The Beacon and Vincent's Private, preferably private rather than semi private rooms.

The company allow staff to upgrade on 16.1 at their own cost so the new question, if you don't mind, is:-

Is Be Fit 2 the best value/most appropriate Irish Life plan to upgrade to for our needs given my wife and I are in our early 50's and healthy, both non smokers, keep fit etc and our kids who are soon to be 19 (in college) and soon to be 15 respectively are thankfully both fit and healthy?

I tried using the plan comparison function on both the Irish Life and HIA websites and whilst the HIA website is good (the Irish Life comparison tool is a disaster) there are so many Irish Life plans that I just don't know which ones to narrow the comparison down to :-(

Be Fit 2 has worked well for us over the last few years so in the absence of something better or more suitable we'll probably just upgrade from 16.1 to that. The only niggle with the plan that I can see is that there isn't a limit on the number of excess payments you have to make. I had one visit to Beacon last year which was a good experience but everytime I see a consultant for a follow up or had to have a test done I paid a €125 excess each time which must have totally €1,000 by the time the follow process was complete. Having a plan which capped excess payments to X number across the family for all in patient or out patient, consultation fees etc would be ideal.

Appreciate your thoughts if you get a chance.
 
JohnSp,

As your renewal date is December 2019, for your wife and 2 teenagers, the 2 options are between Be Fit 2 or 4D Health 3.
There is very little difference in the 2 plans, Be Fit 2 has the first consultant and gp visit fully covered which is a big plus - the hospital excess is 125
for an admission or day case procedure. 4D Health 3 has a lower hospital excess 75 per admission or day case - with 50% refund for gp and
consultant visits.

1. Irish Life Be Fit 2; price 1453(adult) 726(18-20 yrs) 420(child); all public, private hospitals(including private room Beacon + St Vincents) + 3 hi-tech
hospitals covered; private hospital excess 125 per admission and per day case. Very good day to day cover 1st Consultant and gp visit fully covered,
subsequent visits 50% refund per visit.

2. 4D Health 3 plan; price 1481(adult) 740(18-20 yrs) 420(child); all public, private hospitals(including private room Beacon + St Vincents) + 3 hi-tech
hospitals covered; private hospital excess 75 per admission and per day case. Good day to day cover, refund of 50% per visits.

https://www.hia.ie/comparison-tool/#/plan-comparison?plansAndProfiles=W3siaWQiOjEsImFnZSI6MjYsIm1pbk1heFByaWNlIjpbMCwxNDgxLjldLCJtaW5NYXhFeGNlc3MiOlswLDYwMF0sInBsYW5UeXBlIjoxLCJwbGFuc1NlbGVjdGVkIjpbMTQxMywxNDE5LDE0MjhdLCJwbGFucyI6eyJkYXRhIjpbXSwibG9hZGluZyI6dHJ1ZX0sInBsYW5zU2VsZWN0ZWREYXRhIjpbXSwiYXBwbGljYXRpb24iOnsidG9nZ2xlX3Njcm9sbExvY2siOmZhbHNlLCJwbGFuX2RldGFpbF9pZCI6LTF9fV0=

For yourself, I would consider 4D Health 4 plan, which gives a refund of 75% per consultant visit. Details as follows;
3. Irish Life 4D Health 4; price 1524 per adult; all public, private hospitals(including private room Beacon + St Vincents) + 3 hi-tech hospitals covered.
private excess 50 per admission and 50 per day case. Very good day to day cover included, 75% refund for consultant visits and gp visits, etc.

Note; the excess of 50 euro is only payable if you are either admitted to a private hospital overnight or if you have treatment classed as a day case
procedure in the hospital. If you have a lot of day case procedures in a private hospital, it is recommended that you upgrade to a plan with no excess
charge in private hospitals. For example 4D Health 5 plan. I included this plan in the link below to compare.

If you see a consultant in the private consulting rooms, this is charged as a private visit usually from 120euro to 250euro depending on the type of consultant and there is no cap on the yearly charge. A refund of either 50% or 75% applies depending on the cover on your plan.

https://www.hia.ie/comparison-tool/...vY2siOmZhbHNlLCJwbGFuX2RldGFpbF9pZCI6LTF9fV0=

Just to note, the above prices are upto 31 December 2019. Be Fit 2 plan will sky-rocket price wise from 1 Jan 2020 from 1453 to 1738.
Something to keep in mind for renewing next year. The 4D health plans are much better value for January renewal dates.

Snowyb
 
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