Placed on public wait list despite having insurance

fret_wimp2

my better half needs a scan. Our health insurance covers certain private hospitals and all costs in public hospitals.

she was referred by the GP to Vincents who say she has to wait the usual 13 weeks as the scan is a "routine scan".

Can they do that? What good is insurance if its at the whim of the hospital to not use it?

techdiver

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

my better half needs a scan. Our health insurance covers certain private hospitals and all costs in public hospitals.

she was referred by the GP to Vincents who say she has to wait the usual 13 weeks as the scan is a "routine scan".

Can they do that? What good is insurance if its at the whim of the hospital to not use it?

Your doctor probably just referred you to the public hospital. You can decide to go private yourself.

I got referred to places like the Charlemont Clinic previously for scans. Contact your GP again and ask to be referred to somewhere private.

LostArt

If you go to a public hospital your health insurance means jack sh*t bar avoiding the public hospital charge

Yggr of Asgard

Check with your insurance which hospitals or scan centers have direct cover under your plan so that you don't have to pay in advance and than talk to your GP to get you referred to them rather than the public system.

Most likely as techdiver said, the GP just referred you to the public system.

CIARAN_BOYLE

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Can they do that? What good is insurance if its at the whim of the hospital to not use it?

Its at the whim of the GP not the hospital and your GP didn't refer you to somewhere that takes your insurance. Talk to your GP about this.

coylemj

OP, you didn't state whether she is on the waiting list for the private or public St. Vincents, they're effectively two separate hospitals.

If she is on a waiting list for the public St. Vincents Hospital then money or insurance counts for nothing. It's unusual for a GP to refer someone with insurance to the public system if there is a private alternative - what type of scan is it?

You can check on the various private hospitals' websites (Hermitage/Beacon/Bon Secours etc.) to see what type of diagnostic equipment they have, they're not shy about bragging about their hi-tech equipment. There's also Affidea (formerly Euromedic) in Dundrum which is not a hospital but they have a big variety of scanning equipment.

Merowig

Thanks for the advise - I am in a similiar situation - got 3 weeks ago my appointment for a check at Marter for the 25th of January 2017... although I have Aviva via my company.

Trish56

Ring your Insurance Company advise them what type of scan it is, they will advise if and who you are covered with, ring Doctor and ask him for referral letter. Should be no problem once you are covered.

coylemj

Frankly I would be amazed if the GP did not ask the OP's wife if she had insurance. It's very possible that the scanner in Vincent's is the only one of it's kind in the greater Dublin area so everyone has to go to the end of the queue.

And let's remind ourselves that the hospital has told her that it's a 'routine' scan which means that her GP has not flagged it as urgent.

Of course it would be helpful if the OP clarified some of the unknowns.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

coylemj

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

You were referred to a consultant by your GP and only when you met the consultant were you asked if you had insurance?

How long after the GP referred you did you get the appointment with the the consultant?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

endacl

In a public hospital your insurance means you get to not pay. You don't get to skip the queue. It doesn't make you more important than the patient in front of you. Who may also have insurance.

Yggr of Asgard

13 weeks for a routine scan is not bad, I just got an appointment letter for an ultrasound (which was ordered 6 weeks ago) for 06 March 2017.

Yes in 7 month for a scan the consultant said was needed very soon.

Needless to say, that by the time I got the letter I had forgotten all about it because the private hospital I went to after seeing the public emergency room did fix it all. Sure it cost an arm and a leg to my insurance but that is why I paid into it for years.