Thinking if giving up VHI

meeeeh

beggars_bush wrote: »

the public maternity service is actually better than the private version

I think service depends so much from hospital to hospital and even from consultant to consultant that you can't make this type of blanket statement.

PHG

lawred2 wrote: »

The existence of PHI at all and all the vested interests that come with that is entirely the fault of successive Irish governments.

How that relevant to the original topic. Saying that then means nearly every country in the world is at fault. Ireland is not exactly the worst place to live by any stretch.

IJS84

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

It's like all insurance - you are buying protection should you need it, it might seem like a waste but....

If your decision is cost driven then review your policy and just get a basic one (look at other companies). Ring VHI and ask them for a comparative policy from their corporate range (they have to offer this even of you are not a corporate customer).

The regulator website is also a good starting point (the hia dot ie.)

Thes ''corporate policies'' can be offered to the guy on the street but are also at a corporate price, generally cost €1k per year, great value if u want everyday expenses included but if someone is on a budget, best to get a review done over the phone with the companies, there are 2, VHI, Laya and Irish Life. May even be worth while moving cover mid year but this should be checked with the provider on a cancellation charge (if they charge one) and how much

BarryD2

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

It's like all insurance - you are buying protection should you need it, it might seem like a waste but....

Yes maybe.. but my point is that is not how health insurance sold or marketed as a concept. It's not sold like 'all insurance'. The general patter is that you start when you're young and in good health and then you reap the benefits as you age. You'll see that repeated again and again on this thread. So it's sold like a pension scheme in that sense.

But of course that's not how it's run. Miss a year or two in your pension contributions and the fund will still be there as you left it, +/-.

Miss a year in your health insurance contributions and you may **** ***. Start again if you can.

The health insurance companies have you over a barrel and can extract more & more each year, otherwise they can get rid of you and your risk.

I would go as far as saying there are actuaries in each company calculating just what increases they can apply. Which will yield more income against losing too many customers. But if they can lose a few aging or risky customers, that's a bonus too to be factored into the calculation.

sunnyday1234

kneemos wrote: »

The day after you give it up you get hit by a truck.

Always the way.

What do you think health insurance will do for you if you are hit by a truck  ? If this happens then you will be brought to A+E , health insurance or no health insurance

.......

kneemos wrote: »

The day after you give it up you get hit by a truck.

Always the way.

Youd be grand getting hit by a truck - youd be going to an A&E dept in a public hospital if that happened and getting treated immediately.

Getting hit by a truck is the least of my worries.

However, I do worry that if one of my hips or knees started to degrade that if I went public I would be left for years with a lot of pain and a diminished quality of life before anyone decided to operate. And afterwards Id be discharged without any kind of proper aftercare and blamed for not getting on with it if I had complications. Ive seen it with dozens of people.

mooreman09

BarryD2 wrote: »

Yes maybe.. but my point is that is not how health insurance sold or marketed as a concept. It's not sold like 'all insurance'. The general patter is that you start when you're young and in good health and then you reap the benefits as you age. You'll see that repeated again and again on this thread. So it's sold like a pension scheme in that sense.

But of course that's not how it's run. Miss a year or two in your pension contributions and the fund will still be there as you left it, +/-.

Miss a year in your health insurance contributions and you may **** ***. Start again if you can.

The health insurance companies have you over a barrel and can extract more & more each year, otherwise they can get rid of you and your risk.

I would go as far as saying there are actuaries in each company calculating just what increases they can apply. Which will yield more income against losing too many customers. But if they can lose a few aging or risky customers, that's a bonus too to be factored into the calculation.

They actually cannot discriminate - this is wrong.

BarryD2

mooreman09 wrote: »

They actually cannot discriminate - this is wrong.

Not discriminate but calculate just what increases they can impose that the market will bear.

To wit, in the news today that VHI is to implement a 6% increase on policies. Generally the others will follow suit. This will have been thought out carefully - what increase will people pay before more than a given percentage will quit.

For VHI and other health insurance policy holders, they have you across the barrel and you may pay up. Or lose the benefit of all the years you've paid in to date.....

Eggs For Dinner

BarryD2 wrote: »

For VHI and other health insurance policy holders, they have you across the barrel and you may pay up. Or lose the benefit of all the years you've paid in to date.....

It has to be that way. If you don't have waiting periods for people who leave and re-join, youll end up with people only taking cover when they know they will need it. That would collapse the system

BarryD2

Eggs For Dinner wrote: »

It has to be that way. If you don't have waiting periods for people who leave and re-join, youll end up with people only taking cover when they know they will need it. That would collapse the system

Yep, but it's not a bad business to be in. Almost guaranteed regular source of funds flowing in.

adam88

Gimme A Pound wrote: »

Cancer or MS could hit anyone at any age - no amount of "that'd never happen to me" will change that. The young people who have been hit by same thought that way too.

So I'll keep paying it.

Bless.

Diagnosed with a lifelong chronic condition and went public with it despite having very good private medical cover. I’ve noticed zero difference between private and public cover for it atm

Amirani

lawred2 wrote: »

Two tier health system where the public system is one of the worst rated in Europe is 100% the fault of Irish governments..

22nd out of 35 European Countries ranked by the European Health Consumer Index, which is generally the benchmark ranking.

Main reason for position is the relatively long waiting times for outpatient appointments (which are terrible).