hillbloom,
You have full cover for outpatient CT scans in 4 approved direct payment scan centres as follows;
Dublin; Affidea Dundrum
Kildare; Affidea Naas
Galway; Alliance Merlin Park
Cork; Alliance, Mater Private, Mahon
See attached link, page 8, under heading; 'Approved Direct Pay CT Centres (non-oncology).
https://www.vhi.ie/downloads/MRI_External_Directory_with_Plans.pdf
For outpatient oncology CT scans, there is full cover in 4 approved direct payment scan centres as follows;
Note; you have to be an established oncology patient of the hospital in order to be covered.
Also see Note 16 on link below, no cover on Start Plan for oncology CT scans as an outpatient, for most of the list except the following four.
Dublin; Tallaght Hospital
Dublin; St James Hospital
Galway; Merlin Park Imaging Centre
Limerick; Mid Western Regional Hospital
See attached link, page 4, under heading; ' Approved Direct Pay Out-Patient Oncology CT Centres'
https://www.vhi.ie/downloads/MRI_External_Directory_with_Plans.pdf
If you are admitted to any public hospital covered on your plan(Start Plan), CT scans are fully covered as an inpatient.
The symbol on your Table of Benefits, like 2 black bars, means that there is a change in cover for CT scans compared to last years plan.
This change in CT scan cover may be less or more since renewal date. The above explanations show what CT scan cover you have now.
You would need to contact VHI, if you want to know the exact difference from last years plan.
Its not a stupid question, its important to know the fine details of your health cover, so you know where you stand.
It should be simplified online, with more explanations when you click on a heading.
It takes a bit of digging to locate the information, which is what the regulator is trying to improve for customers.
Regards, Snowyb