VHI Cover and "certain Special Procedures"

Tails142

Hi - so my VHI came up for renewal, I was on One+ Plan but decided I would look around to see if I could get more from my health insurance as I haven't had to go to the hospital ever (touch wood) but I do have a couple of trips to the GP during the year usually.

Anyway I was using the health insurance comparison on www.hia.ie and it came up with a plan PMI 17 11

http://www.hia.ie/ci/health-insurance-comparison/search-result/259-200/

So this plan is almost €200 cheaper than One+ plan and has way better outpatient benefits, plus a pretty low excess so I can start claiming back GP fees after my first visit basically.

HOWEVER - the one major difference between ONE+ plan and PMI 17 11 that I can see is that I'm not covered for certain 'Special Procedures' in hi tech hospitals which is basically the Mater Private and Beacon clinic.

What are these 'special procedures' because I've searched and can't find a list of them anywhere.

Does anyone know??

Ms_Opinionated

Hi Tails142,

These special procedures are of 2 types, cardiac and non cardiac. Examples of cardiac are things like stents, pacemaker implantation, open heart surgery, etc and the non cardiac are things like spinal fusion surgery or even something major like brain surgery! These procedures are quite specialised and expensive and if cropped up, you could very well be admitted to a high tech hospital! So its not something i personally would totally cut out!
The high tech hospitals are Blackrock Clinic, Mater Private Hospital, Hermitage, Beacon and Galway Clinic! So its the centres of excellence i suppose!!! The one + plan is great and its what im on personally! I would suggest maybe if you look at VHI Corporate Plan too which combines hospital cover and always you to claim bk for doctor, etc! YOu still have the 125e xs but you will have full cover for the cardiac procdures in the high tech!!
If ya need anymore info, just ask!

Tails142

Thanks for the info Ms_Opinionated

Clare rocks

Hi I upgraded my parents last year after listening to Tina Leonard & Conor pope. So they have been with vhi for nearly 20 years I changed them from parents & kids plan. So the upgrade cost more but like mentioned above the excess is only 1 euro & you can claim back on 40euro on gp & dental etc.
I submitted the receipts to be advised my parents need to be on that plan 52 weeks before they can claim anything back. I am so annoyed as when I call the vhi agent she did not advise me of this clause, anybody else experience the same.

Tails142

Well I think it depends on which plan you change to - the PMI 17 11 plan which I have changed to didn't have any build up period for claiming day to day benefits, I just got paid a claim this week for last years expenses. You should have been told over the phone when switching though, I know when I switched from One+ to PMI 17 11 I was talked through each change in cover on the policy.


Unfortunately though the premium has gone up on PMI 17 11 this year from about 55 a month to 75 a month so I will have to shop around again. I was looking at PMI 26 12 but the price of that increased last week! You should compare your plan on www.hia.ie to see if you can get a better deal even if you want to stick with VHI