should I bother keeping my health insurance

johnmck

I'm 32 - in perfect health - pretty fit - hoping to do my first tri-athlon this year.
I've a plan with VHI - costing me €670 per year. I haven't had any benefit for health insurance over the past 5 years. a friend of mine who works in a hospital as a care assistant says if she was me she wouldn't bother keeping it!

Is a public hospital€80 per night to stay in, with a cap of 10 nights. so if I did get admitted (touch wood) for something , cost would be €800 - is that it!?

corkonion

if you have prsi the cost would be a lot lower than €800 in a public hospital. the problem in not having private heallth care insurance is not to do with the cost, its just trying to get in the door to see a consultant or to get into a hospital...it could be years.

johnmck

but there's nothing wrong with me - apart from some shoulder muscle tensions which a few massages and exercises can sort.

johnmck

so should I just get the most basic cover?

johnmck

looks like the cheapest health insurance is €495 from Laya!

D3PO

johnmck wrote: »

but there's nothing wrong with me - apart from some shoulder muscle tensions which a few massages and exercises can sort.

yes and thats why its called health insurance and not health assurance....

sopretty

If you have no issue in affording it, then keep it. I let cover lapse and it is one of my greatest regrets. I've had so many health issues which insurance would have covered, but since I had let it lapse, I've been on massive (year long) waiting lists and financially prohibited from any sort of decent treatment.

Marcusm

Let's just say you tear your ACL on your triathlon or something easier like a cartilege tear. Excruciating and I imagine quite a wait for a public orthopaedic appointment not to mind surgery (even arthroscopy on a day case basis). Getting it done privately cost me in excess of 3k and I only had a 6 month gap in insurance and had not seen a doctor in 20 years. If I was interested in endurance sports I would never have left a gap.

28064212

Marcusm wrote: »

Let's just say you tear your ACL on your triathlon or something easier like a cartilege tear. Excruciating and I imagine quite a wait for a public orthopaedic appointment not to mind surgery (even arthroscopy on a day case basis). Getting it done privately cost me in excess of 3k and I only had a 6 month gap in insurance and had not seen a doctor in 20 years. If I was interested in endurance sports I would never have left a gap.

Do you mean you paid for everything yourself, and it cost 3k? Compared to current insurance prices, that doesn't sound too bad to be honest. Allowing for insurance excesses, that's maybe 3 years of payments.

Marcusm

28064212 wrote: »

Do you mean you paid for everything yourself, and it cost 3k? Compared to current insurance prices, that doesn't sound too bad to be honest. Allowing for insurance excesses, that's maybe 3 years of payments.

That was the cost of a fairly simple cartilage tear meaning 20 minutes of operation (arthroscopy so keyhole and daycase) and no ongoing physiotherapy or rehab.

That's probably the cheapest thing you could have. From speaking with others who have had ACL with ongoing rehab, multiply it by 5 or 10 from what I have seen of their bills. I tore cartilege slipping on ice......

Spinnaker

If you pay by Direct Debit be warned that cancelling the policy means WRITING to them otherwise this state corporation will continue to dip their fingers in your wallet monthly, infinitely even. Do not make assumptions about cancellation cos of phone conversation you have had with them. Write to them (yes, 2013 digital age :-O ) It's all about the direct debit !

By the way you can't find a cancellation form on the VHI website. You can find VHI cancellation forms on the competitors websites and vice versa. Hmmm....

LostArt

Spinnaker wrote: »

If you pay by Direct Debit be warned that cancelling the policy means WRITING to them otherwise this state corporation will continue to dip their fingers in your wallet monthly, infinitely even. Do not make assumptions about cancellation cos of phone conversation you have had with them. Write to them (yes, 2013 digital age :-O ) It's all about the direct debit !

By the way you can't find a cancellation form on the VHI website. You can find VHI cancellation forms on the competitors websites and vice versa. Hmmm....

This is not correct, you can cancel your direct debit with your bank when the final payment for your plan year has gone from the account. You don't have to write to them if you do this.

Spinnaker

The original direct debit mandates are your instruction to the HI provider not the bank. (Standing orders your instruction to the bank) This is documented to infinity on Ask About Money.

I have recent and personal expensive experience of this with HI providers who initially request for cancellation in writing.

LostArt

I cancelled my direct debit with my bank at my renewal with no problems

crazy cat lady

I don't know if you are aware of this, but with VHI, should you become sick, you may be able to be treated in your own home and avoid admission to hospital entirely. This benefit is completely covered with no excess.

I've known of several people who have been treated at home and have been able to continue with their family life and in some cases continue to work during their treatment.

You may not have any long term illnesses, but you never know when you may become suddenly unwell or as a previous poster has said, injure yourself.

monflat

Keep your health insurance the money your paying is not too excessive i know one person i work with paid vhi for 14 yrs he hit 40 was healthy n said hed save a few quid . Within months was struck down with ulcerative colitis and has probably been off sick for a year .
He has been really bad
I feel so sorry for him after payin all those years.

Im keepin ours its a pricy packet but maybe worth it

Oink

monflat wrote: »

Keep your health insurance the money your paying is not too excessive i know one person i work with paid vhi for 14 yrs he hit 40 was healthy n said hed save a few quid . Within months was struck down with ulcerative colitis and has probably been off sick for a year .
He has been really bad
I feel so sorry for him after payin all those years.

Im keepin ours its a pricy packet but maybe worth it

+1. A friend of mine was broke, stopped paying for cover. Cancer. She's a tough one so she made it. But she's none the richer to say the least.

28064212

monflat wrote: »

Keep your health insurance the money your paying is not too excessive i know one person i work with paid vhi for 14 yrs he hit 40 was healthy n said hed save a few quid . Within months was struck down with ulcerative colitis and has probably been off sick for a year .
He has been really bad
I feel so sorry for him after payin all those years.

Im keepin ours its a pricy packet but maybe worth it

Question: If he hadn't been paying VHI for 14 years, and instead paid into a savings account, would he be in a better financial position now?

johnmck

so am I correct in saying that the consensus here is to keep it because I'm now doing Triathlons?

It's a f**king disgrace the tax I pay and it's good for nothing only paying politicians and bankers.

sopretty

My response would have nothing to do with you doing triathlons. My response is in relation to getting ill all of a sudden. No insurance you take up after that will cover that for about 5 years, as it will be a pre-existing condition.
Of course you may sail through life undeterred by illness! Money down the drain in hindsight.
If you can afford it though, keep it up.

Marcusm

johnmck wrote: »

so am I correct in saying that the consensus here is to keep it because I'm now doing Triathlons?

It's a f**king disgrace the tax I pay and it's good for nothing only paying politicians and bankers.

I'd look at ira different way; yu are covered in the public health system but it's a question of priorities. In my arthroscopy example (not unusual to be needed for those active in sports, especially as they push towards middle age), a public doctor might have agreed I needed the surgery but might not see it as an emergency case so onto the waiting list while the pain is managed through anti inflammatories and pain killers. No doubt it would have subsided to a manageable level but that would not have been my preference. Conversely, a colleague aged 50 was super fit and competitive with all the athletic guys in the office. I don't think his mindset changed from the age of 25. As a result he tore his Achilles' tendon. Doctor's advice was surgery, all covered by health insurance but he preferred physiotherapy and pain relief. That was the beauty of health insurance - the ability to make a choice.

Public resources need to be spent sensibly, choice comes at a premium.

dantastic

I stopped paying several years ago now but for a bit of a different reason.
I was on one a pretty comprehensive VHI plan. It was about €900 in 2008, that's per person.

So we needed to use the health care we had been paying for. But we didn't know that "semi private" is 8 beds in a room.

In a separate incident we had to see a bunch of consultants. VHI wouldn't cover a single one of them. So after having spent something like 800 on consultants we were only able to claim back €30 something for a GPs visit.

Everyone it taking about "when you need it..." Well, I needed it and was left to f-off. That's why 'm not paying.

monflat

johnmck wrote: »

so am I correct in saying that the consensus here is to keep it because I'm now doing Triathlons?

It's a f**king disgrace the tax I pay and it's good for nothing only paying politicians and bankers.

Yes i know we are the same 1400 a yr for two adults n 2 children under 3
For basic basic cover

monflat

28064212 wrote: »

Question: If he hadn't been paying VHI for 14 years, and instead paid into a savings account, would he be in a better financial position now?

Maybe or maybe not
He is public being passed from billy to jack each time he is in and is like a bit of a test dummy cause all his meds dont agree with him
He cancelled the insurance cause he was healthy and cause he wanted to put few pound away for further education

johnmck

€676 per year with vhi one plan 500

need cover for sports related injuries , healthy otherwise