Hi Paid,
Option 1;
The nearest identical plan to your parents current plan with no private inpatient hospital excess is as follows;
'HealthPlus Access' (old Plan B); price 1858per person pa, exact same hospital cover as before, not great day to day cover, high outpatient excess 300 but similar to HealthPlus Extra (250 outpatient excess).
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The only 2 extras on these two plans compared to others are;
1. They each have 100% cover in any private hospital for orthopaedic surgery ie; hip, knee replacement etc and cataract surgery.
2. They both have Level 2 cardiac cover in hi-tech hospitals, called TAVI surgery - this is specialised valve replacement surgery by keyhole - but
only if a person is not otherwise suitable for open heart surgery. There is strict criteria applied to this type of surgery. Consultant has to make a very strong case to prove necessary, on certain grounds, ie maybe other serious complications involved, age, previous cardiac history etc. Its not done just because a person has the cover.
Note; this cover was only recently included on these 2 plans, since 2012.
HealthPlus Extra; tavi surgery cover 100%
HealthPlus Access; tavi surgery cover 90%
Option 2;
A second option similar to 'Option 1' but includes a private hospital inpatient excess of 75 per admission or day case.
Details as follows;
'HealthPlus Excess; price 1632 per person pa, same hospital cover as before (including a private hospital excess 75 per admission or daycase),
not great day to day cover (outpatient excess 300). 90% TAVI surgery cover.
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The following options would both have 80% orthopaedic surgery cover and no TAVI surgery cover.
Option 3;
New corporate plan launched on 1 November 2015, no private hospital excess on admission or daycase.
Details as follows;
Plan PMI 42 15; price 1560 per person pa same hospital cover as before (except 80% orthopaedic cover + no TAVI surgery cover) excellent day to day cover ( but a
2 year waiting time would apply to this cover, existing( HealthPlus Extra) day to day cover will continue to apply while waiting.
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Option 4;
New corporate plan launched on 1 November 2015, including a private hospital inpatient excess 75 per admission or 50 per day case.
Details as follows;
Plan PMI 41 15; price 1152 per person pa, same hospital cover as before(except 80% orthopaedic cover + no TAVI surgery cover) good day to day cover ( but again a 2 year waiting time will apply to this cover, existing (HealthPlus Extra) day to day cover will continue to apply while waiting.
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NOTE; If having the extra cardiac TAVI cover matters to your parents, then options 1 or 2 would be good choices.
All 4 options would include regular open heart valve surgery in hi-tech hospitals as standard.
If having the full choice of private hospitals available, fully covered, just for hip or knee replacement or cataract surgery, matters to them - again
options 1 or 2 would be good choices. Note all other surgery is fully covered in all private hospitals on all options 1 to 4.
The 20% shortfall could potentially be 3000+ approx.
However, as I mentioned in many previous posts, the two hi-tech hospitals Mater Private Dublin and Blackrock Clinic are not passing this shortfall amount onto the patient. So, in other words, orthopaedic surgery and cataract surgery is fully covered if you choose either of these hospitals.
There is substantial savings to be made if this is acceptable to them and if the extra TAVI cover is not a requirement.
As it happens, my own parents were also on Plan B for donkeys years and switched 4 yrs ago. They would be late 70s and healthy.
They are on plan PMI 36 13, with 80% orthopaedic cover etc, and had hip surgery in a hi-tech hospital, fully covered, no shortfall applied, just the 75 excess paid on admission. This plan works well for them and their health needs. The only difference from HealthPlus Extra is no TAVI cover,
80% orthopaedic cover, not an issue at all, and their plan has the added bonus of good day to day cover ( 1 euro excess) which is not available on Healthplus Extra. Plan PMI 41 15 is identical to PMI 36 13, but cheaper. It wasn't available at their renewal date.
Hope this explains the differences overall and makes choosing a little easier.
Regards, Snowyb