Health Insurance "Should I cancel my health insurance now that the private hospitals have come under state control?"

Brendan Burgess

Founder
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I have been asked this twice already by email this morning.

One is from someone who will struggle to pay the premium and is thinking of not renewing.
The other is from an older person who can well afford the premium.

I would strongly advise anyone with health insurance to renew it.

The current nationalisation of private hospitals is likely to be only temporary and you will get full value for your premium again before long.

If you take a break longer than 13 weeks, then you will have to serve waiting times again for any preexisting conditions.

What are waiting periods
In summary

Any illness which occurs within 26 weeks of taking out the policy is not covered.

If you have a preexisting illness, it will not be covered for 5 years.

Waiting periods

When you take out health insurance for the first time, or it has been more than 13 weeks since you last held private health insurance, you may have to serve waiting periods before you are fully covered, but accident and injury will be covered immediately.
www.hia.ie

If you do have to stop it, then start again as soon as possible


If you can start again within 13 weeks, you won't lose continuity of cover.

If you wait a few years, your premium will be higher than it would otherwise have been.

Brendan
 
I have a renewal due in 10 days time. Current plan for wife and myself is VHI Company Plan Plus Level 1.3 I also have 3 children on VHI One Plan Family. My premuim is increasing by €300 this year. Would it be a good idea to change us all to the cheapest plan possible for the next three months until this, hopefully, passes over? Cant see a good reason to pay more for a premuim with a reduction in possible available cover over this current period. Any thoughts most welcome..
 
Surely the private hospitals are only going to deal with any emergency above and beyond what the public hospitals can cope with over the next few months. It's not a free for all turn up at A&E and expect to get seen for nothing.
 
Now that they no longer private, premiums will have to cease until such time as normality returns.
 
The impression i have is that the private hospitals are for overflow Covid patients only but i stand to be corrected on that. As elcato said im not sure you can arrive into Blackrock clinic ED with a broken wrist, appendicitis etc and expect to get seen free of charge. Usual illnesses will still occur and its better to have cover if you need it both in the public and private sector. I wont be cancelling mine.
 
Saavy99 said:
Should private hospitals cease taking payments until such time the crisis is over?
Click to expand...

I doubt they'll cease taking the payments, as its effectively money for old rope...

However, the insurance providers should point blank refuse to make payments during this period and by extension, those with cover should get a reduced premium.

Although there's little chance of that in the health insurance market where almost anything goes, then it comes to increasing premiums, abs there's no one ensuring that we're not being overcharged, or that money is being spent wisely.
 
I got email from them, I think it was prob a standard one to everyone but it was full of mumble jumble and they said they will be in touch again when finer details are known.
 
I presume there's no question of hospitals asking those admitted for Coronavirus treatment if they have health insurance. And passing the costs along to the insurers and ultimately the health insurance purchasers.
 
There shouldn't be...

Then again, how many times game we heard about hospitals billing patients' insurance companies, while the patient only got the basic public service etc?

The Minister for Health could very quickly and very easily give a public order to all hospitals on this, along with a second instruction to all insurance companies that they need to give a partial rebate to their customers (to compensate for lack of private services during this period).
 
I doubt if any Private Hospitals have taken in any Covid sufferers yet as less than 500 were hospitalised.
Mind you I did see where some services at Tullamore have been moved to the Hermitage Clinic, presumably to allow Covid testing?
 
This is very analogous to the situation with Sky Sports. AFAIK, Sky are giving rebates because they can't provide the bulk of the service customers normally expect. This isn't due to any failure by Sky themselves but because there's some no live sport to show.

Likewise with private health insurance, you continue to be insured, but there's no services available to you to insure for. Premiums should be rebated for the duration of the period the private hospitals are contracted to the public system. Simple as that.
 
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