Should i renew health insurance for child.

strewthelvis

Hi folks

Just a bit of background. I have been a quinn/bupa customer 13 years.
Had a child last year and got her insured as well. Unfortunately in the past few month we foudn out or child had a serious medical contidion which he is been treated for and our insurance is covering most of it t.g.

The Local chemist informed us a few weeks ago out little boy was possibly entitled to a medical card on health grounds. We applied and he got it. I have ni experience of medical cards but i know thanks to the chemist it will cover his medication.

My question is should i renew his health insurance now when it is due and have both medical card and insurance? his procedures so far have been very swift and i have myself convinced that its thanks to him having private insurance thats things are moving along so quickly? would things take longer if he just had a medical card?

seamus

Yes, you should continue with his medical insurance IMO. If things get worse or he requires serious treatment, then he will get treatment faster going private.

strewthelvis

i was thinking that too so its not a myth that things happen faster when you have health insurance. Am really glad i had health insurance for him i cant imagine if we hadn't where we would be now.

seamus

Not even necessarily for his current condition, but any future problems he may develop, even minor ones.

Public - go on a waiting list, wait months for your initial consultation
Private - "Does next Tuesday morning suit"?

It's a no-brainer really.

NuMarvel

strewthelvis wrote: »

i was thinking that too so its not a myth that things happen faster when you have health insurance. Am really glad i had health insurance for him i cant imagine if we hadn't where we would be now.

In general, being treated as a private patient does get you seen quicker and treated quicker than being treated as a public patient. The main bottleneck is in accessing consultants, which could be months on the public system or weeks on the private system.

However, for patients of the main children's hospitals in Dublin, I'm not sure if private health insurance makes a huge difference. I don't think they have many private beds, so most of their patients are public and would be admitted on the basis of need. Of course, I'm talking in very general terms here, so none of this may be applicable in your case.

All that said though, I'd agree with Seamus and suggest you keep your son on cover, finances allowing. It would be very useful for the non-serious, but still important stuff, where he could be admitted to most public or private hospitals. For example, my 2 year niece was recently admitted to a private hospital for gromits.

Something else to consider is that the child doesn't have to be on the same level of cover as yourself, so you could look at changing his plan to reduce any overlap between the health insurance and the medical card.

Hope some of that helps and that the little guy is getting better!

seamus

NuMarvel wrote: »

However, for patients of the main children's hospitals in Dublin, I'm not sure if private health insurance makes a huge difference. I don't think they have many private beds, so most of their patients are public and would be admitted on the basis of need. Of course, I'm talking in very general terms here, so none of this may be applicable in your case.

You are right in general for A&E stuff. If something needs to be treated now, then everyone who goes in that door gets equal priority. We were insured to the hilt when I was a kid, but I still remember spending 8 hours sitting in the A & E in Crumlin when I broke my kneecap.

The problems exist in follow-up consultations or surgeries and the like. Public waiting lists can be huge, whereas private patients will often get seen (by the same Consultant!) in a fraction of the time.

strewthelvis

thanks everyone,
It was what i was thining anyways but i just wanted to be sure.

broker2008

Call Quinn and they will give the child a different plan to save money but maintaining most or all of cover.