€2,300 health insurance

door

Just discovered my Dad is paying €2,300 VHI per person in my family. I'm in my 20s. My Dad is by no means a wealthy man. He spends almost all his wages on health insurance. We have never had any other "luxuries". I only discovered this now as I want to start paying it myself. Nobody other than him as ever had to claim off this health insurance but then who knows what might happen tomorrow to any of us. Is this price for health insurance considered excessive or is it just reflective of the times we live in? The name of the plan is Health Plus Extra (Plan B options). I've looked at a price comparison site for other plans but the wording is far too convoluted for me to know if I am downgrading massively if I change to another plan half the price. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Mezcita

This is worth a listen. It's from January but they do recommend a few options.

http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A20706446%3A15036%3A06%2D01%2D2015%3A

fits

Its often a good idea for your parents to go on a higher plan and you can get away with a more basic one.

LostArt

Option 1, Teachers plan VHI, reduced orthopaedic and opthalmic cover in a private hospital
Option 2, Company Care Plus from Laya
http://bit.ly/1I4tq4J

door

Thanks for the responses.
When you see "90%" and "Yes" under two respective plans for this category: "The Blackrock Clinic, the Mater Private and the Beacon Hospital, certain Cardiac Procedures". Does anybody have rough figure of how much that 10% could end up costing you out of your pocket if you go with the 90% ? I know it is a very broad question, but I have very little knowledge on how much hospital treatment can cost on things such as bypass operations or any other kind of serious surgery related to the heart.

MagicMarker

€2,300 per PERSON?

I don't believe you.

Stone Deaf 4evr

MagicMarker wrote: »

€2,300 per PERSON?

I don't believe you.

It must be for the whole family surely. thats a crazy figure.

MagicMarker

I checked the VHI website and that plan is €5320.50 per year based on a family of 4, which is €1330 per person.

door

MagicMarker wrote: »

I checked the VHI website and that plan is €5320.50 per year based on a family of 4, which is €1330 per person.

That is based on 2 parents, 2 children. As mentioned I am now in my 20s and want to begin paying my own health insurance. A child is no longer a "child" after 18.

LostArt

Healthplus Extra is €2,234 per adult

door

I gather people do consider this a very high amount and I am not exactly sure what we are getting for it compared to plans almost half the price, such as VHI One Plan at a significantly less price of €1,006.25. (Also as LostArt pointed out, the plan I mentioned I am on is €2,234 per person, I was approximating before I checked the actual figure)

LostArt

The One plan reduces your orthopaedic and opthalmic cover to 80% in a private hospital, your cardiac cover to 90% in the hi tech hospitals and you have a €125 excess for every private hospital claim.

goldenhoarde

@door
http://www.hia.ie/ and then select your current plan and then compare the benefits of the current one to a few of the others. Your parents possibly never shopped around and just paid the premiums. As you stand it should be possible to half this by switching or get yourself named on the account with VHI and see if they have any better priced plans with the same cover available .

ardmacha

goldenhoarde wrote: »

@door
http://www.hia.ie/ and then select your current plan and then compare the benefits of the current one to a few of the others. Your parents possibly never shopped around and just paid the premiums. As you stand it should be possible to half this by switching or get yourself named on the account with VHI and see if they have any better priced plans with the same cover available .

This. The HIA website is one of the best things provided by the government.

These providers increase the cost of old plans while introducing new ones not all that different at lower cost. There is probably a better plan at two thirds the cost there.

door

ardmacha wrote: »

This. The HIA website is one of the best things provided by the government.

These providers increase the cost of old plans while introducing new ones not all that different at lower cost. There is probably a better plan at two thirds the cost there.

Yes. The HIA site is fantastic for detail comparison and has been a great tool to narrow things down. However, my main problem now though is understanding the details in which makes comparisons. As referred to in a previous post, unless we have a rough idea of how much hospital stays and surgeries cost, the difference between 90% and Full cover could be significantly higher than the plan price difference. For example, if I ever needed a heart bypass the 10% difference between two plans could possibly amount to thousands of euros out of my pocket, which I may never have had to pay had I stayed on the more expensive plan. This is only one small example of when health insurance is needed and I'm sure we could all think of many hypothethical situations which are likely to rise for ourselves throughout our lives. The whole thing is mind boggling.