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Over 360 health insurance plans: time for legislation?

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  • 20-04-2015 10:50pm
    #1
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭


    According to Cornmarket: "The cost of private health insurance in Ireland continues to spiral and now with over 360 plans in the market, it is becoming much more difficult to compare and get the best deal."

    Trawling through the maze of offerings from our oligopoly of Irish health insurance providers on the superb HIA Insurance comparison feature, and in particular realising that these companies repackage health insurance plans on an almost annual basis, I'm now strongly inclined towards the view that their business models depend upon promoting obscurantism, sustaining confusion and avoiding clarity at all cost.

    Is there any precedent - anti-competitive practices? - for the state to intervene and limit the number of "plans" these companies can offer us?


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    #2
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,648 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    I agree. I doubt even the agents can explain the difference between all their own plans.


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    #3
    hfallada
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,180 ✭✭✭hfallada


    I wonder if you got rid of "corporate plans", aka a plan with a different name, how many plans would there be actually. I think one product that needs to be introduced is student health insurance. In Germany and the US, you can be listed as a child on your parents policy up until the age of 25. Here its only 21 and as result a lot of families cant afford another adult on their health insurance policies, so they drop it.


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    #4
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,869 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    I heard a chap talking about negotiating health insurance if you are new to it, and basically that you can't, they have fixed plans, tell them what you can pay, and ask what they can offer, they are fixed.

    He was on Newstalk and a claimed expert (think he runs a website with recommendations).

    Oddly though, he is incorrect, sort of. If you know a plan you want and know of a corporate plan that suits you, you can ask for that plan even if you are not with the company.

    A co worker got details of my plan through my wifes company, great cover for about 40% of the price. Rang up, gave the company name and said this is what they wanted and they now have it.

    Not sure how helpful the person on the end of the phone was, i.e. did they not check etc. but that seemed to be the understanding.


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    #5
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users Posts: 1,531 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    CramCycle wrote: »
    I heard a chap talking about negotiating health insurance if you are new to it, and basically that you can't, they have fixed plans, tell them what you can pay, and ask what they can offer, they are fixed.

    He was on Newstalk and a claimed expert (think he runs a website with recommendations).

    Oddly though, he is incorrect, sort of.

    Dermot Goode, I presume. I was reading this hugely informative Ask About Money thread and from that link I used this Create your Scheme feature to build my own plan with Laya.

    I got a 10% discount for online purchasing with Laya this afternoon. However, according to this Ask About Money thread in reality the 10% deposit is given for being a first-time customer and therefore next year Laya will not give it. Most importantly from that AAM thread for people renewing with Laya, if you rejoin Laya as a new member within 13 weeks of the expiry of the old policy you will get the discount again and lose absolutely nothing. (According to this superb Citizen Advice Centre article, you do not need to sit a "waiting period" of 26 or 52 weeks if you change companies within 13 weeks)


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