Dropping Health insurance

Fian

I have had health insurance all my life, since before I turned 18. I am now 42, with what is objectively a well paid job though it doesn't always feel like that when bills come in at the end of the month. Manageable burden of debt and plenty of equity in our house. Married with 4 kids, aged 12-17.

I can afford to continue to pay for health insurance for all my children.

My children play sports so I am not inclined to drop their cover right now in case they pick up a sports related injury. I assume it will be a number of years before they can fund their own insurance.

My query is around whether it is foolish (though I accept comforting) to continue to pay for health insurance for my children between the ages of say 23-34. The premia will be the same as if they were 70 year olds, obviously the risk that is being insured is far far less than in respect of a 70 year old. So they will be subsidising the older customers of the insurance company.

I am effectively thinking of "self insuring" - taking on the risk that something goes wrong and being prepared to fund private treatment if necessary. I am conscious that if they have a long term illness I would only be paying for diagnosis to skip waiting lists, they would then be moving into the public system because it is unlikely i could fund ongoing treatment for a chronic disease of some sort. Obviously i hope that doesn't arise!

Penny wise and pound foolish is a phrase that keeps coming to mind, but then i remind myself that insuring them explicitly involves significantly subsiding older insured. Why should I volunteer to do that? After 34 the community rating means they would need to be insured. Dropping health insurance for the four of them would probably fund an additional investment property - which will ultimately be going to them at the end of the day.

Anyone else have views on whether it is sensible to have health insurance for pre-34 year olds?

Sue Pa Key Pa

Well, I got news last week that I need a serious operation. Current public waiting list is 3 years. I have health insurance and am being prioritised for about 4 weeks time. I'm not saying it is a fair system, but I've been told that if I don't get this done before the end of the year, it will be too late.

My point is, health issues usually come suddenly and you really need health insurance, or have had the discipline to set aside the funds and not spend them on day to day stuff. Putting the money in to long term investments is not a good substitute IMO. It's all a gamble

okiss

My advice in regards to your children's health insurance I would continue to pay for it up till they finish school/college and get a job.

I would tell each of your children that once they get work they will have to pay for their own health insurance. They can get a policy that will cover them for a private or the high tech hospitals once they pay a high excess if they want to keep down the cost of cover.

At the moment you could be paying €200 to €300 a year for each of them. When they finish college they will go up to full adult rate so even now you could be looking at a figure of least €700 a year plus for each of them. So what will that cost be by the time your 12 year old is 22?

In the next few years you have to put 4 children though college which is not cheap. You need to consider your own future and after the children are finished in college you will need to build your own savings up again.

CiniO

Sue Pa Key Pa wrote: »

Well, I got news last week that I need a serious operation. Current public waiting list is 3 years. I have health insurance and am being prioritised for about 4 weeks time. I'm not saying it is a fair system, but I've been told that if I don't get this done before the end of the year, it will be too late.

So am I right thinking, that you can get it in 4 weeks instead of 3 years, because it will be done privately (either privately in public hospital or in private hospital).

Do you know how much would it cost you to do this operation privately if you didn't have health insurance and offered to pay yourself for it?

Quackster

Be warned, once you go private, you basically have to stay private.

If, say, you pay for a private consultation and are then referred for a scan that diagnoses a tumour but you can't afford to pay for the required treatment. If you then try to go pubic instead, you'll be put right at the back of the queue and you'll have to go through the initial consultation and scan all over again so you won't gain any time saving from having done them privately already.