VHI Alternative VHI plans for an elderly couple and for a 26 yr old.

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Páid

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Thanks SnowyB for your help last year. This year I have two seperate VHI issues.

  • My parents are both on VHI HealthPlus Extra and the premium has increased from €4468 last year to €5012 this year. They are aged 70 and 74 and won't switch to another company. They have free GP care but still want to have good health insurance.

    They wouldn't switch (within VHI) last year but this year they might because of the increase in premium. My mother had an operation on her sinuses in a private hospital a few years ago and VHI paid for everything - an overall very successful outcome. This is why they are reluctant to switch.

    Is there any better value to be had at VHI than VHI HealthPlus Extra with similar cover? PMI42 15?

  • I pay for VHI One Plan Starter for my son. He is 26, is perfectly healthy (even though he smokes) and doesn't want health insurance. I think he should have some sort of health insurance that's why I'm paying for the cheapest VHI plan. The net premium for 2017 is €561.17. Is there any benefit in keeping it up e.g. waiting periods?
 
Paid,

The 2 alternative plans with VHI are as follows which includes your own suggestion;
1. VHI Health Plus Access; price 2045pa; identical hospital cover to current plan, no excess, day to day cover - 300 excess. Full cover for
certain orthopaedic procedures in private and hi-tech hospitals. (hip, knee and shoulder replacement surgery).

2. PMI 42 15; price 1648pa; hospital cover is identical to current plan except 80% cover in private or hi-tech hospitals for certain orthopaedic
procedures(hip, knee or shoulder replacement surgery). However, this does not have to be a problem, if they were to choose either Mater Private or Blackrock Clinic for this type of surgery, both of these hospitals are not passing the shortfall charge onto the patient. In other words, there is full orthopaedic cover in these 2 hi-tech hospitals. I have personal experience of this with a relative, its straight forward and above board.
There is excellent day to day cover included on this plan, but for people over 65 yrs, VHI impose a 2 year waiting time before these extra benefits
apply. They would stay on current day to day cover while waiting.

[broken link removed]


Regarding your 26 yr old son, if someone has no health insurance and no medical card - there is a 75 euro per night charge in any public hospital
which is capped per year 75 x 10nights = 750pa. So its something to be aware of when considering dropping cover.
The cheapest basic plan is approx 510 but its too early to know the full extent of price changes for 1 Jan 2016 at this stage.
This information will be updated on the Health Insurance Authority website from early December 2016 so you would be in a better position
to make decisions at that stage.
Waiting times apply if a person has a pre-existing condition ie 5 years.
New conditions are treated after 6 months waiting for all new customers.

Regards, Snowyb
 
There is a 10% shortfall for certain cardiac procedures in Blackrock, the Mater and Beacon Clinic between Health Plus Extra and Access. In reality it will more than likely get waived by the hospitals though.

PMI 42 15 will offer a private room for 50 euro per night, subject to upgrade rules
PMI 41 15 would offer further savings for both parents of 788 euro over PMI 42 15 by taking on a small excess of 75 euro per claim or 50 euro for a day case procedure.

The issue with switching policies is to ensure that if something goes wrong that it doesnt come back against you when you are trying to help.
e.g
Neither of the PMI policies offer any cover on Level 2 In-patient cardiac fixed priced procedures compared to 100% cover on their current policy.

What would happen if they needed one of these procedures and then found out that they had full cover and now no cover? I do think one needs to be careful with caveats when changing plans and especially insurers as plans are not identical in cover but broadly similar.

I recall close relations taking generic advice in relation to a health insurance policy from a newspaper article a couple of years ago.They had unwittingly downgraded their policy and then there was a large price increase in their policy and an unwanted upgrade waiting period to bring their cover back up. It was a costly mistake because of excesses. It is because of this fear that a lot of people dont change their policies or insurers.

The 26 year old would probably cancel their policy if they had to pay for it themselves as they see themselves as invincible and probably, statistically, having no need for health insurance. If you can afford pay for the lower level of cover.
 
Páid said:
Thanks SnowyB for your help last year. This year I have two seperate VHI issues.

  • My parents are both on VHI HealthPlus Extra and the premium has increased from €4468 last year to €5012 this year. They are aged 70 and 74 and won't switch to another company. They have free GP care but still want to have good health insurance.

    They wouldn't switch (within VHI) last year but this year they might because of the increase in premium. My mother had an operation on her sinuses in a private hospital a few years ago and VHI paid for everything - an overall very successful outcome. This is why they are reluctant to switch.

    Is there any better value to be had at VHI than VHI HealthPlus Extra with similar cover? PMI42 15?

  • I pay for VHI One Plan Starter for my son. He is 26, is perfectly healthy (even though he smokes) and doesn't want health insurance. I think he should have some sort of health insurance that's why I'm paying for the cheapest VHI plan. The net premium for 2017 is €561.17. Is there any benefit in keeping it up e.g. waiting periods?
Click to expand...
Hi Snowyb,

I am looking for advice on what VHI plan I should obtain for my Mother in her late eighties. My Mother is in a Nursing Home and she has a medical card. My Mother is currently in the HealthPlus Extra plan with the VHI. The renewal quote is 2506 Euros which seems excessive. Could you please recommend a more reasonable option and are there any other factors I need to be aware of? We wish to stay with the VHI so what alternative plan would you recommend? Thank You.
 
Mountainview,

Option 1;
1. Health Plus Access(old Plan B); price 2045pa; public, private and hi-tech hospital cover included as before, no hospital excess as before,
level 2 cardiac procedures 90% cover in hi-tech hospitals(note this 10% shortfall would be waived). Full cover for orthopaedic surgery in private and hi-tech hospitals.
[broken link removed]

The 2 extras on both HealthPlus Extra and HealthPlus Access plans are;
1. 100% cover for orthopaedic and cataract surgery in private and hi-tech hospitals - (hip, knee and shoulder replacement + cataract surgery).

2. Level 2 cardiac surgery - TAVI surgery - this is specialised valve replacement surgery by keyhole, but only authorised if a person is otherwise
not suitable for open heart surgery. There is strict criteria applied to this type of surgery. The consultant has to make a very strong case on the patients behalf, to prove its necessary, on certain grounds, ie age, previous cardiac history or maybe due to other complications involved etc.
This surgery is not authorised just because a person has the insurance cover included on their plan. This cover was added onto both plans in 2012.

Option 2;
VHI Plan PMI 42 15; price 1648pa; public, private and hi-tech hospital cover included as before, no hospital excess as before.
There is no Level 2 cardiac TAVI cover on this plan.
This plan also has 80% cover for certain orthopaedic surgery and cataract eye surgery in private and hi-tech hospitals.
However, if you choose Blackrock Clinic or Mater Private for these types of surgery, there is no shortfall. These 2 hospitals do not pass on the shortfall charge to the patient. Other private hospitals may charge the shortfall amount which could be 2000+ depending on the hospital and type of surgery involved.
There is excellent day to day cover on this plan, but for anyone over 65 yrs, VHI impose a 2 year waiting until this extra cover is allowed.
She would stay on HealthPlus Extra day to day cover while waiting.
[broken link removed]


The above 2 alternative options have no hospital excess to pay on admission or day case in private or hi-tech hospitals.
The following 2 options are similar to Health Plus Access with 100% orthopaedic and cataract eye surgery in private hospitals and Level 2 cardiac
cover included. The only difference is that there is a hospital excess included on these plans. A hospital excess is a once off payment on admission to a private or hi-tech hospital for each stay or day case treatment. It is not payable in any public hospital.

3. Health Plus Excess; price 1799pa; public, private and hi-tech hospital covered as before, hospital excess 75 per admission to a private/hi-tech hospital or 75 per day case.

4. Health Access; price 1645pa; public, private and hi-tech hospital covered as before, hospital excess 125 per admission to a private/hi-tech
hospital or 125 per day case.

[broken link removed]

Regards, Snowyb
 
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