Should I bother with Healthcare insurance anymore?

DublinWriter

I was a VHI customer since I was 26, then switched to BUPA in the late 90's and I'm currently with Quinn.

I put the wife on the policy last year and now I've a new baby boy. The premium for myself and the missus is coming in at about €1,500 p.a.

I've never made a claim on any healthcare policy. I've spend a fair bit on GP visits and general costs (she suffers from asthma) for both myself and the wife as these aren't covered under most policies.

At this stage I'm beginning to ask myself do I really need it in the first place?

The 'ohhh I'll get me own room' argument goes out the window regarding private healthcare insurance in this country.

I guess the question I'm asking is basically is there any benefit to having private healthcare insurance in Ireland in 2010 considering it doesn't cover the run of the mill GP expenses that I'm incurring.

matt70iu

Well IMO I would stick with it. The reason I say that is my father was recently taken into hospital with gal stones, spent two weeks in hospital. He's with Quinn, not sure which package. Anyway when he got out of hospital, he recieved a statement from quinn as to what had been paid out on the claim. Came to nearly 5 grand and that was for a semi private room in a public hospital. Without the health care poilicy, we would have had to foot the whole bill. Turned out to be a real blessing in the end....

mayfire

Stick with it!!
I was like you and last year had to have surgery. The bill was over €20,000 if I was to pay for it myself.
My son had to have tests done and we had to pay €125 but Quinn picked up the balance. Well worth it.
My friend s wife had to get treatment that cost €1000pw for a few weeks. They considered pulling out two years ago too.

My advice, stick with it at all costs.

oldyouth

Have to agree. I've had my claims in the past and won't be without it. Have a look at the plan you have. Cut out the frills such as dentists visits etc and cover the major events. There are 3 main players, so get DETAILED written quotes from each. VHI, Quinn and Aviva. it is a minefield but you've got to put in the legwork.

Aviva is the only one sold through Brokers, so they have a vested interest in promoting that product. Having said that, you can use their expertise for free to get an opinion and insight in to the others on offer

emeraldgreen

IMO, stick with it. Change your policy from what you are on, to one which you will get money back on GP visits etc if your wife and son go regularly. Im with VHI myself, at one stage I tried Quinn and swiftly moved back to VHI. Quinn had a lot of small print, and almost anything i went to claim for then they didnt cover. VHI have never once questioned any claims I have put through for myself plus himself, and i can also say the same for my family.
Besides which insurer you are with, you really never know what will happen in the future, and you are without a doubt treated better and quicker once you have insurance.

DublinWriter

emeraldgreen wrote: »

VHI have never once questioned any claims I have put through for myself plus himself, and i can also say the same for my family.

I think that will all swiftly change now that they're about to be privatised!

3DataModem

DublinWriter wrote: »

I've never made a claim on any healthcare policy.

Why not?

You could have been entitled to loads back.

I have claimed part of GP visits, dental visits, physiotherapy, Xrays all back with AVIVA and VHI.

tommy21

Definately stick with it, a relative had rehab treatment for alcohol on two occassions. We are with VHI, last bill came to €20,000 for a 5 week stint which we would have had to foot without insurance!:eek:

John Mason

i am in the same situation. i am with avia for 7 years, my premiums are now 90e a month, i have never made a claim with them and i keep wondering is it worth it but i am afraid to cancel it in case in get cancer

it is so bloody expensive and i am getting nothing out of it.

and tbh honest if they stopped sending me ridiculous letters telling me how great they are and stupid health magazines that go straight in the bin, i am sure the premiums could be halves

tk123

Stick with it but change the plan. The one I'm on with VHI (First Plan Plus) covers day to day stuff like GP, consultant visits etc it's dearer than Quinn but the excess is only €1 so I stayed with them. When I got insurance I was the same - "i'll never need it" but I got thyroid disease and when it really got bad I needed regular ultrasounds, a biospy and eventually surgery which were all covered. Being able to call the hospital and have an appointment in a few days and then a prompt response from the consultant saves a lot of stress and worry.

No1XtinaFan

DublinWriter wrote: »

I was a VHI customer since I was 26, then switched to BUPA in the late 90's and I'm currently with Quinn.

I put the wife on the policy last year and now I've a new baby boy. The premium for myself and the missus is coming in at about €1,500 p.a.

I've never made a claim on any healthcare policy. I've spend a fair bit on GP visits and general costs (she suffers from asthma) for both myself and the wife as these aren't covered under most policies.

At this stage I'm beginning to ask myself do I really need it in the first place?

The 'ohhh I'll get me own room' argument goes out the window regarding private healthcare insurance in this country.

I guess the question I'm asking is basically is there any benefit to having private healthcare insurance in Ireland in 2010 considering it doesn't cover the run of the mill GP expenses that I'm incurring.

That's a high enough premium, why don't you call them and change your plan or go to www.hia.ie and compare plans with VHI and Aviva.

I would definitely keep it though

Thoie

I was initially of the "stick with it" mindset, but in your case I'm having second thoughts.

In my own case I wouldn't be without it - I've made my money back from them 30 times over over the last however many years. Private health insurance comes down to:

Do you care whether you get a private/semi-private room? From the tone of your post, I'd guess not.
If you got sick, are you willing to wait months to be seen/treated?

I know in my case I could probably have managed to wait 18 months for treatment, but it would have been a bloody uncomfortable (but not life threatening) 18 months. I was quite happy with 6 weeks from GP to surgery. So for you it comes down to: if something uncomfortable but not life threatening happened your child, would you be willing to let him be uncomfortable for 6, 8, 12 months?

The other way to look at it is could you afford to put that 1,500 a year away in an emergency fund that might cover things like the €5k gallstones?

I'd cut out meals out, holidays etc before health insurance. Could well be the difference between life and death.

Rachob

"mayfire: Stick with it!!
I was like you and last year had to have surgery. The bill was over €20,000 if I was to pay for it myself."

Just a quick question to Mayfire and those of you who stated your health insurance had covered large bills, if you had no health insurance and had gone publicly, my understanding is you would not have received a bill anyway?
If you are public you only pay a small amount towards a hospital stay or something and after that it's all covered.
Could anyone clarify this?
My understanding in my research so far has lead me to conclude that insurance gets you
a) the possibility of a private or semi private room and
b) the possibilty of getting seen to quicker

I actually am not aware of any other benefits. Would be interested to know if anyone else is under this impression and if it is correct?

eagle_i

The Health Insurance Authority has a good website which allows you to do a comparison of the benefits each provider covers for the various plans. You can also input what benefits you prefer and it indicates which plan best suits your required benefits. Aviva also has a similar comparative tool on their site, you indicate the VHI/Quinn plan you are currently on and it kicks out their Aviva equivalent plan listing the various benefits covered or not, showing you the differnces between their plan and your current VHI/Quinn.

NuMarvel

This topic has been discussed a few times before (here and here for example)
, and there's never really a definitive answer. Some people think it's a necessity, some people don't.

The main advantage of private health insurance is that it covers the costs of being a private patient (within the terms of the policy). Being a private patient generally means being seen and treated more quickly than a public patient. As the National Treatment Purchase Fund has significantly shortened the hospital waiting lists, the bottleneck now exists in out-patient lists for scans, scopes and consultant visits. On the basis of that, my personal opinion is that health insurance is still a necessity. And the health insurance authority's survey last year shows that 66% of health insurance customers say the same.

OP, as others have said, use the HIA's comparison tool to see what else is out there that better suits your needs.

All three health insuers have a range of "company plans". These are plans aimed at the corporate market that give either better benefits or lower prices. Legally, an insurer can NOT refuse to quote you for it or to let you join with the same benefits as everyone else. They may not give you the group discount, but even then it will probably still be cheaper than what you have.