Galway Clinic Health Insurance

worlds goodest teecher

Does anyone know which VHI policy would provide an affordable level of care in the Galway Clinic? It is for my father, he has a longterm illness and the money he has been paying VHI to be treated in the Mater Private is ridiculous so he wishes to be treated in the Galway Clinic. As he has an existing illness he cannot change insurance companies. His policy is up for renewal shortly. Benefits for alternative therapies are not really important.

Tiramisu

A very good website is hia.ie on which you can compare your current plan with similar plans for that gives similar cover. Any plan from the old Plan B upwards gives some level of cover in the Galway clinic. Some have full cover, some have shortfalls. Not great to have a plan with a shortfall or an excess if you have a long term condition as the shortfall is payable on each admission. Some of the VHI plans have a co payment of approx 2,000 Euro for certain orthopaedic and opthalmic procedures in the Clinic, VHI thereby targetting their mostly elderly customers in their hour of need for Hips and cataracts.

You are free to move insurance companies at renewal time once you have served your pre existing waiting period which is 5 years up to the age of 55, 7 years from 55 to 59, and 10 years from 60 onwards. You are free to move to which ever company you wish and they have to take you on even with surgery etc scheduled, they have to take you warts and all. There are waiting periods attached if you are upgrading your plan, sometimes up to two years for pre existing conditions, so you may only be covered at your previous level for up to two years after an upgrade, and if your old plan had a shortfall or an excess that could still apply for up to two years after you upgrade your plan. If you downgrade your plan the downgrade is effective immediately.

Its a good idea to have a plan that covers both the Bons and the Clinic and have a choice of private hospital as some plans have cover in the Clinic that don't in the Bons and vice versa

As I said, hia.ie is a good site for comparing plans

LostArt

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Does anyone know which VHI policy would provide an affordable level of care in the Galway Clinic? It is for my father, he has a longterm illness and the money he has been paying VHI to be treated in the Mater Private is ridiculous so he wishes to be treated in the Galway Clinic. As he has an existing illness he cannot change insurance companies. His policy is up for renewal shortly. Benefits for alternative therapies are not really important.

you can still switch insurers with existing conditions

worlds goodest teecher

Tiramisu wrote: »

A very good website is hia.ie on which you can compare your current plan with similar plans for that gives similar cover. Any plan from the old Plan B upwards gives some level of cover in the Galway clinic. Some have full cover, some have shortfalls. Not great to have a plan with a shortfall or an excess if you have a long term condition as the shortfall is payable on each admission. Some of the VHI plans have a co payment of approx 2,000 Euro for certain orthopaedic and opthalmic procedures in the Clinic, VHI thereby targetting their mostly elderly customers in their hour of need for Hips and cataracts.

You are free to move insurance companies at renewal time once you have served your pre existing waiting period which is 5 years up to the age of 55, 7 years from 55 to 59, and 10 years from 60 onwards. You are free to move to which ever company you wish and they have to take you on even with surgery etc scheduled, they have to take you warts and all. There are waiting periods attached if you are upgrading your plan, sometimes up to two years for pre existing conditions, so you may only be covered at your previous level for up to two years after an upgrade, and if your old plan had a shortfall or an excess that could still apply for up to two years after you upgrade your plan. If you downgrade your plan the downgrade is effective immediately.

Its a good idea to have a plan that covers both the Bons and the Clinic and have a choice of private hospital as some plans have cover in the Clinic that don't in the Bons and vice versa

As I said, hia.ie is a good site for comparing plans

He is paying over €2500 a year now with my mother paying the same and it is putting them under a lot of financial pressure. If I could identify the VHI policy that would allow he to receive the lowest level of care in both private hospitals in Galway we could work upwards to find the one that suits him best. VHI tell him he is on the best plan.

I had looked at hia.ie but couldn't just narrow it down to specific hospitals or just VHI policies, way too many policies on show.

worlds goodest teecher

LostArt wrote: »

you can still switch insurers with existing conditions

Is there not a waiting time of something like 5 years before you can receive benefits though?

LostArt

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Is there not a waiting time of something like 5 years before you can receive benefits though?

no, once the original new customer waiting periods (you serve these when you take out your first plan) are served, you only ever have waiting periods again if you move to higher benefits

Oral Surgeon

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Is there not a waiting time of something like 5 years before you can receive benefits though?

No, that only applies for someone taking out a brand new policy where they are not moving from an active policy. You may have to wait a period to avail of any increase in benefits though but that is true if you stay with the current provider or change provider...

okiss

I have some experience of health insurance. If you can answer some questions for me I can look up the hia.ie site and offer you some other plans for your father and mother.

What is the name of the vhi policy your parents currently have?
In regards to your fathers health does he attend hospital as a day case or does he have to stay in hospital overnight?
Some policies have an excess per visit or per night stay so saving €200 on the cost of another plan could cost him more if he had to stay a few nights in hospital.
Does he have to have cover for the Galway clinic? This is a high tech hospital like the mater private and not every policy will cover the full cost of a stay here but they may cover the full cost of the bons in Galway.
Would he be happy to stay in a semi private room which could help bring down costs?

In regards to your mother has she any heath issues or could she need an operation ie a hip replacement at some stage?
Does she attend the doctors or any consultants a lot?
It is possible for a couple to have 2 different health insurance polices depending on there own health needs.
Once I get some more information I should be able to help you out.

LostArt

OP:
http://www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?90&314&111/

http://www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?198&322&current=198/

worlds goodest teecher

okiss wrote: »

I have some experience of health insurance. If you can answer some questions for me I can look up the hia.ie site and offer you some other plans for your father and mother.

What is the name of the vhi policy your parents currently have?
In regards to your fathers health does he attend hbospital as a day case or does he have to stay in hospital overnight?
Some policies have an excess per visit or per night stay so saving €200 on the cost of another plan could cost him more if he had to stay a few nights in hospital.
Does he have to have cover for the Galway clinic? This is a high tech hospital like the mater private and not every policy will cover the full cost of a stay here but they may cover the full cost of the bons in Galway.
Would he be happy to stay in a semi private room which could help bring down costs?

In regards to your mother has she any heath issues or could she need an operation ie a hip replacement at some stage?
Does she attend the doctors or any consultants a lot?
It is possible for a couple to have 2 different health insurance polices depending on there own health needs.
Once I get some more information I should be able to help you out.

They are on Health Plus Choices. When my father was accessing the Mater Private he would be admitted for 4 days every year for endocrinologist tests. He is looking to change to the Galway Clinic instead though. He might have cover in the GC but the current premium is crippling him financially. Semi private would be fine. He requires to have a hip replaced as well. He had his pituitary glad removed about 20 years ago and requires a hormone injection every few weeks. And he has a growth on his head which requires radio therapy or removal by a plastic surgeon, he has had radiotherapy in the past so he prefers the removal option.

As for my mother, she has been treated for lung cancer in Vincent's. She has a growth on her tongue which docs can get it removed if she wishes.

They both have medical cards.

Thanks for your assistance.

okiss

Hi worlds goodest teecher

I have looked up the hia website for you. If you go into hia.ie, compare plans and then put in vhi healthplus then add another plan. The put in laya total heath select.
You can see a comparison of both plans side by side.

In regards to your mother needing a hip replacement she should be fully covered for this once the procedure number and hospital are on the laya list.
You can see this in the comparison. Ask her to get the laya procedure from her consultant.

All hospital procedures have procedure no. If you ring the health insurance company with this number, the name of your consultant and the hospital they can confirm the policy covers this. Your parents can send a note to the insurance company saying they can speak to you in regards to policy number (new laya policy).

The cost of this plan is €1523.80 per person. If they pay this by direct debit there is a 3% surcharge of €45.71 per person.
The dd will be taken over 11/10 months depending on when laya get the dd form. Over 11 months the cost is €142.68 per person
Over 10 months it will work out at €156.96 per person
I hope this helps you out.