Private Health Insurance

John37

How many people here have it. Have you or do you avail of it or do you think its a waste of money? I was thinking of stopping paying into it

ruthloss

I have both, one is Voluntary, the other is taken from my wages every week. I have no say in the latter, even though I never use the 'free' NHS services.

Run_to_da_hills

It's a total waste of money if you are not going to get sick.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Palliative care is considerably decent for lung cancer patients, you live and suffer a lot longer without it.

Citizen2011

I think if you're reasonably healthy the chances of relying on it are slim. I had it for 15 years and packed it in last year - aged 36 at the time. I'll look at it again in 10 years time. But nobody ever seems to ask if the staff in the VHI habe taken a pay cut. I live close to a lady in the VHIO - she was off on maternity leave, very generous pay and then got a pay rise even though she was off work so I'm not paying for that.

SocSocPol

I wouldnt be without it, there is no doubt that you get better treatment and faster treatment if you have it.
OH had breast cancer 4 years ago and the consultant showed us the differences in the treatment she was getting as oppossed to what she would have got without PHI.

Canis Lupus

Definitely definitely definitely worth it at least down in Kerry. The waiting lists for people without private can be shocking even for serious illnesses.

My father who has since passed away had heart disease and he got amazing care as a result of having private health insurance. His life was most definitely prolonged by years as a result of it. Towards the end he had to go into hospital suddenly. It was a case of go to Tralee on public or get a place in Cork. We weren't sure the insurance would cover it if he went to Cork but frankly our opinion of Tralee general for treating serious problems is pretty low so off to Cork he went. Long story short the bill for I think, roughly, a week in Cork hospital was €10,000+. The insurance paid it without question.

My own personal experience of health insurance is based in the UK. Having it with one particular company gave me a mahooosive discount to use certain gyms and when I developed a knee problem from running (ironic eh?) I got to go to a physio for 12 treatments at approx £55 a visit which was paid for by the insurance. If the problem persisted they would have paid for further investigative procedures and treatment all done straight away without going onto a stupid waiting list of weeks.

Anyway, yes it's expensive but if you can afford it stick with it.

mattjack

SocSocPol wrote: »

I wouldnt be without it, there is no doubt that you get better treatment and faster treatment if you have it.
OH had breast cancer 4 years ago and the consultant showed us the differences in the treatment she was getting as oppossed to what she would have got without PHI.

Same here, wouldn't be without it .. we,ve only used it for one of the kids , but the OH half has had surgery and without the private healthcare we would've waited two years for it.

DublinDilbert

SocSocPol wrote: »

I wouldnt be without it, there is no doubt that you get better treatment and faster treatment if you have it.
OH had breast cancer 4 years ago and the consultant showed us the differences in the treatment she was getting as oppossed to what she would have got without PHS.

Ummm so the consultant who was being paid lots of money by them said it was a great idea to have it. In areas like cancer many public patients get seen quicker as there is services dedicated to this. I have first hand experience of this.

Private health insurance is good for diagnostic imaging and tests, but these can all be paid for in a variety of clinics. If you want to see a consultant just pay to go see them.

Healthy people are dropping Vhi/bupa, sick people are keeping it, prices are just going to rise, while less is covered each year. Most people, myself included, have a tipping point, 1k/year is too much IMO. I'd rather save 1k/year and put it off my other medical expenses.

mattjack

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Ummm so the consultant who was being paid lots of money by them said it was a great idea to have it. In areas like cancer many public patients get seen quicker as there is services dedicated to this. I have first hand experience of this.

Private health insurance is good for diagnostic imaging and tests, but these can all be paid for in a variety of clinics. If you want to see a consultant just pay to go see them.

Healthy people are dropping Vhi/bupa, sick people are keeping it, prices are just going to rise, while less is covered each year. Most people, myself included, have a tipping point, 1k/year is too much IMO. I'd rather save 1k/year and put it off my other medical expenses.

I don't know about the cancer situation, but my wife had surgery five years through the VHI in a private hospital,we've have been told the surgery will be repeated in about five years and if we were to leave the VHI and attempt to get back in they would regard her ailment as pre existing and not treat her .

She had the choice of surgery in an old orthopedic hospital with a waiting list or a modern clinic relatively quickly.

john hanrahan

hi keep the ins if you can you do not know when illness will strike

and even though the public service is good when you get in, its becoming

impossible to get in, even for cancer paitients as its impossible to get a bed

and you do not want to be waiting if that strikes

find the cheapest package but keep it if you can.

SocSocPol

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Ummm so the consultant who was being paid lots of money by them said it was a great idea to have it. In areas like cancer many public patients get seen quicker as there is services dedicated to this. I have first hand experience of this.

Private health insurance is good for diagnostic imaging and tests, but these can all be paid for in a variety of clinics. If you want to see a consultant just pay to go see them.

Healthy people are dropping Vhi/bupa, sick people are keeping it, prices are just going to rise, while less is covered each year. Most people, myself included, have a tipping point, 1k/year is too much IMO. I'd rather save 1k/year and put it off my other medical expenses.

Actually he didnt advise her to get it, it would have been too late then, he just confirmed that she was very lucky that she did have it.
And you are wrong, the tratment was different, had she not had it she would hace had a lumpectomy followed a scan and then a generic radiotheraphy treatment at a public hospital.
The difference was that after her lumpectomy she got a scan and a personalized treatment programme was designed around her, each week in the 8 weeks of radio therapy she was re-scanned and the radiotherapy was adjusted to the new size and position of the tumer, in a public hospital they would have just scanned her once and then blasted her whole breast with radiation for 8 weeks. Furthermore she was treated in a unit with the most advanced and up to date facilities.

Wibbs

In this country there is no way in hell I'd be without it as the differences between public and private can be huge and life threatening. So it would be one of the last expenses I would cull if I was running low on funds. That said I partially blame the private insurance sector for the parlous state of much of our health service, but here we are. If I was in another EU country like France, Germany or Spain I wouldn't bother as their public healthcare is streets ahead of even our private(as far as access to doctors, specialists and specialised care goes).

gcgirl

If I could afford it I'd get it , there's nothing worse than being finally diognosed with something on the day of your funeral, if you have health insurance you've a doctor straight willing to look after you, if you don't your fooked

bob the bob

I have it for myself as a benefit at work, and for £27 a month my 2 kids are covered too. Wife is covered by her job.

notahappycamper

I have it. Correct me if I'm wrong but is the only real advantage/benefit of not having to wait as long if you need a certain procedure, than if you were to go public?

LETHAL LADY

I hate to say this but its who you know not how much you pay.

Canis Lupus

LETHAL LADY wrote: »

I hate to say this but its who you know not how much you pay.

and if you're private you get access to those 'who' people.

Wibbs

Wibbs wrote: »

In this country there is no way in hell I'd be without it as the differences between public and private can be huge and life threatening. So it would be one of the last expenses I would cull if I was running low on funds. That said I partially blame the private insurance sector for the parlous state of much of our health service, but here we are. If I was in another EU country like France, Germany or Spain I wouldn't bother as their public healthcare is streets ahead of even our private(as far as access to doctors, specialists and specialised care goes).

have to have it in germany anyway

mattjack

LETHAL LADY wrote: »

I hate to say this but its who you know not how much you pay.

Canis Lupus wrote: »

and if you're private you get access to those 'who' people.

What do you mean regarding who you know ?

blindside88

notahappycamper wrote: »

I have it. Correct me if I'm wrong but is the only real advantage/benefit of not having to wait as long if you need a certain procedure, than if you were to go public?

You also get access to more hospitals (sports surgery clinic, bons etc) and scan centres. In Kilkenny for example you go to st lukes if your on the public system or you can go to aut even if you have pmi. There is a huge difference between these 2

Jester252

I will never be without it. It like a fast past system. I wish every other thing worked that way

Skuxx

I'm only 21 but I still have it!! I hopefully won't need it, but I don't want to take the chance! It is expensive though, costs me €90 a month for just myself so I can see why people might decide to do without!!

opinion guy

Just got my renewal.
God damn VHI increasing their prices again :mad:

Mr Benevolent

opinion guy wrote: »

Just got my renewal.
God damn VHI increasing their prices again :mad:

I'm surprised at the amount of people who stay with VHI. It's bloated, inefficient and overpriced, as befits an ex-government organisation.

opinion guy

Confab wrote: »

I'm surprised at the amount of people who stay with VHI. It's bloated, inefficient and overpriced, as befits an ex-government organisation.

Well job for the coming week is to research alternatives

Canis Lupus

mattjack wrote: »

What do you mean regarding who you know ?

If my dad had to get some treatment and there were delays the consultant often seemed to be able to get sh*t sorted in no time. There were a number of times when it was a case of 'leave it with me' followed by a phone call a few hours later saying X problem was now resolved. Private health insurance got us access to that consultant.

Because i had health insurance i was given a bed in St Patrick's hospital with no waiting time. The usual waiting time would have been several months. Money talks. However if you know the right people you can bypass normal waiting times for public health care as well.

jester77

Health insurance is mandatory here in Germany. I have private as it works out cheaper for me than public, plus I get preferential treatment. One example would be doctors having 2 waiting rooms (private/public), with private patients getting seen to immediately. Equality or what :rolleyes:

Public insurance is a % of your salary while private is a fixed amount per month, so once you earn over a certain amount it is cheaper to be private. But you can't opt for private unless you earn over a certain salary. Still costs me €500 a month which is one of the cheapest rates, but I have to cover the first €1000 of health costs per year before it kicks in. With public you don't worry about costs, the doctor has to claim from the system. While with private you pay the doctor and then claim from your insurance. That's the reason that doctors will always prefer private over public patients.

While it might not be a fair system, it is fantastic and everyone, private & public, gets fantastic treatment.

mattjack

Canis Lupus wrote: »

If my dad had to get some treatment and there were delays the consultant often seemed to be able to get sh*t sorted in no time. There were a number of times when it was a case of 'leave it with me' followed by a phone call a few hours later saying X problem was now resolved. Private health insurance got us access to that consultant.

That's a failing in the system where consultants are happy to abuse the system and patients are happy to avail of the chance to skip queues.
The fact it happened a number of times suggests that is systemic and seen as ok . How do you feel about it yourself ?
I'd be annoyed if I was waiting for treatment and people were being aided and abetted by consultant to skip waiting lines.

I would imagine in an ideal world any country's health service should be able to treat its citizens without queues,shoddy service etc.

Mr Benevolent

Wibbs wrote: »

In this country there is no way in hell I'd be without it as the differences between public and private can be huge and life threatening. So it would be one of the last expenses I would cull if I was running low on funds. That said I partially blame the private insurance sector for the parlous state of much of our health service, but here we are. If I was in another EU country like France, Germany or Spain I wouldn't bother as their public healthcare is streets ahead of even our private(as far as access to doctors, specialists and specialised care goes).

Do you spend as much as possible on health insurance or enough to reasonably cover most risks? That's the question I'm asking myself. I'm 32 and health insurance is beginning to nag in the back of my mind.

byhookorbycrook

healthy as a trout until mid 30s, diagnosed with MS, expensive MRIs covered and was put on a drug that costs €2,500 covered by VHI, but hadn't been made available to public patients.I'd go hungry before I'd give up VHI etc, it's wrong that you get faster and better treatment because you have it, but I'd not be without it.

ComfyKnickers

Our renewal was due start of July and it was the bloody Government Levy on it that really annoyed me, we're paying them enough! Anyway my husband and I were talking about cancelling it and putting premium away to pay for our daughter to go to college in a few years and then maybe start it up again. I basically Googled "should I cancel my Health Insurance" and found a very interesting article, I think it was on the money matters website or something and basically it was giving examples like if you're involved in a car accident or have a stroke/heart attack and require even just an overnight stay with tests etc, it could cost around €1000. The main reason we decided to stay in it was the waiting time difference between being a public patient or having private health insurance. I rang our provider to say we were leaving unless they could do something and they put us on lowest plan which still gives the cover but without the fancy private rooms. It reduced premium to about €1400 for two adults, two children.

I definitely think if you can afford it, take it out, you'll have enough to worry about if you or a family member gets ill.

jokettle

I'm only 25 but I have it. I sat down with my parents and worked out how much I pay in medical expenses every year (have to see a consultatnt every 6 months anyway) and it worked out that we were breaking even whether I had insurance or not. If I could remember the details I'd post them, it was interesting to break it all down like that. In the end we decided to keep insurance for now as we wouldn't be out of pocket and it would cover any unforseen illnesses/accidents.

McCrack

SocSocPol wrote: »

I wouldnt be without it, there is no doubt that you get better treatment and faster treatment if you have it.
OH had breast cancer 4 years ago and the consultant showed us the differences in the treatment she was getting as oppossed to what she would have got without PHI.

That's not true in respect of getting better treatment. The same doctors and Consultants treat public and private patients and they don't treat people any differently depending on whether one person is public or private.

The ability to pay however will see you skip the Q so to speak.

I would also be wary of private clinics/hospitals too. I have come across instances where patients were treated appallingly in private clinics and when I say appallingly I am referring to medical negligence, cancer misdiagnosis for example. Money doesn't equate to better healthcare.

Capt'n Midnight

Is there a product on the Irish market where they don't cover the small stuff , just the big rare expensive stuff ?

To me insurance is something that you have not for a rainy day, but for stuff that you couldn't possibly afford to pay for without selling a house or a kidney.

Most product seem like they are geared up so that healthy people who rarely visit GP's or other services subsidise hypochondriacs who try to reclaim their costs by using every service available.

Micky Dolenz

It's damn expensive but I would not be without it. Picked up a few injuries over the years and have used it a lot, so much so, I can never leave it lapse now.

opinion guy

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Is there a product on the Irish market where they don't cover the small stuff , just the big rare expensive stuff ?

To me insurance is something that you have not for a rainy day, but for stuff that you couldn't possibly afford to pay for without selling a house or a kidney.

Most product seem like they are geared up so that healthy people who rarely visit GP's or other services subsidise hypochondriacs who try to reclaim their costs by using every service available.

Most of them don't cover the small stuff. You have to get an outpatient policy to cover that on top of your regular policy

steddyeddy

Well in America you pretty much need it. The only question is how much you pay for it. Serious illness used to be the biggest reason for bankruptcy in the states (maybe it still is). Frankly the system over there is inhumane and I hope Obama's health care plans go ahead.

As regards our system the public sector is woeful but its still fairer than the one in America. One point I would have to take people up on is in reference to the private health care system offering better treatment. True I have heard of people getting extra scans as result of being on private insurance but some of those extra unnecessary scans to milk the insurance companies (I mean some by the way not most or all). As regards better treatment across the board I would have to disagree. Doctors and nurse in the Irish health care system work extremely hard regardless of whether their patients are public or private health care. Some doctors go out of their way to offer equal care to those who havent got the money for private health care.

Do you think a Doctor whose job it is to cure will always offer better care to those with more money?

Micky Dolenz

steddyeddy wrote: »

Do you think a Doctor whose job it is to cure will always offer better care to those with more money?

I would hope they treat every patient equally and I'd say they do.

The difference is, those with insurance won't have to wait 2 years to see the specialist.

steddyeddy

Micky Dolenz wrote: »

I would hope they treat every patient equally and I'd say they do.

The difference is, those with insurance won't have to wait 2 years to see the specialist.

Yes I agree with that bit. You'll find a lot of doctors will do a lot to speed this up for people in the public system though.

neemish

have had hospital bills of up to 35K - wouldn't be without insurance for a day. The public system in the area I need care just doesn't cut it. And because I now have a "pre existing condition", i would find it next to impossible to get insured again

CathyMoran

Have several medical conditions but over 5 years ago I was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, I was waiting 6 long weeks to be seen privatly but once I was in the system I had treatment in a nice envoronment.

I had my children publicly and the hospital stay was horrific.

I will keep my health insurance even though I can not afford to be treated for some of my medical conditions as a result.

Pantsface

I have private health insurance. Always will.

SocSocPol

McCrack wrote: »

That's not true in respect of getting better treatment. The same doctors and Consultants treat public and private patients and they don't treat people any differently depending on whether one person is public or private.

The ability to pay however will see you skip the Q so to speak.

I would also be wary of private clinics/hospitals too. I have come across instances where patients were treated appallingly in private clinics and when I say appallingly I am referring to medical negligence, cancer misdiagnosis for example. Money doesn't equate to better healthcare.

You are so so wrong.
I refer you to post 12

I have private health insurance, a hospital plan and an every day expenses plan. I wouldn't be without them. The likes of Blackrocl Clinic cover your excess for you so if you require admission it costs you nothing.

I have used the every day expenses plan an awful lot since I took it out. I had to go to A&E last week, went private, in, seen by a emergency medicine consultant, x-rayed, sorted out within 2 hours and given a physio appointment for the same day. And I can claim pretty much all of that back from my health insurer. It's the one thing I won't be giving up any time soon.

Truman Burbank

SocSocPol wrote: »

Actually he didnt advise her to get it, it would have been too late then, he just confirmed that she was very lucky that she did have it.
And you are wrong, the tratment was different, had she not had it she would hace had a lumpectomy followed a scan and then a generic radiotheraphy treatment at a public hospital.
The difference was that after her lumpectomy she got a scan and a personalized treatment programme was designed around her, each week in the 8 weeks of radio therapy she was re-scanned and the radiotherapy was adjusted to the new size and position of the tumer, in a public hospital they would have just scanned her once and then blasted her whole breast with radiation for 8 weeks. Furthermore she was treated in a unit with the most advanced and up to date facilities.

I've seen a lot of factually incorrect posts re public/private healthcare on forums, but this tops them all. It's unfortunate you came to believe this, or were led to believe this (though I don't know how that could possibly have occurred). What you're written is off-the-scale in its inaccuracy. You're passing on ridiculous untruths, and some people might actually believe it. These people being future patients or friends/relatives of. On a positive note, hope that your partner is doing well.

Immaculate Pasta

John37 wrote: »

How many people here have it. Have you or do you avail of it or do you think its a waste of money? I was thinking of stopping paying into it

If you got rid of it I can guarantee you won't reach your 38th birthday John37

Teyla Emmagan

I wouldn't be without mine. I've racked up 6k in medical expenses already this year (two operations following an accident). And I've had various scans and stuff over the years that it has enabled me to have done instantly, which is a huge thing for your peace of mind. Mine is 96 a month, which is expensive, but my cover is really good. Most years I get at least half of it back, but this year obviously it has saved me thousands, so it all balances out.

kelle

Back in 2004, both my mother and father were diagnosed with cancer. Both had VHI, but somehow mum ended up being treated privately and dad on the public system. Both waited the same length of time to see their specialist and started treatment at the same time. Sadly they died together too.
There was absolutely no difference, except that we found Dad's specialist very blunt and it would have been very distressing for mum to be treated by him.

However, my daughter was found to have reduced hearing and seeing a specialist on the public system would have taken a year - it took only 8 weeks to see one privately and she had grommets put in a week later. God knows how much school she would have missed out on had she depended on the public system.

So there's no way I'll give up the VHI.

SusieBlue

I have it, and I wouldn't be without it. With the state of the public system it just wouldn't be worth it, I'd rather sacrifice other things than to give up PHI.