# Can you have Medical Card AND Health insurance?



## sadie (1 Jul 2009)

A relative of mine has a psychiatric illness and so has a medical card and is on disability benefit. He is hospitalised from time to time, but we were wondering if someone paid Health Insurance for him, could he avail of private mental hospital care instead of public hospitals - and keep his medical card for other services.
Would the Health Insurers take someone like that?


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## annet (1 Jul 2009)

The answer to the question is yes - a person can qualify under the GMS system and also have private health insurance.  There are waiting periods for pre-existing and new applicants.  The information you need is
[broken link removed]


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## irishartists (11 Jun 2010)

*health insurance plus medical card?*

I checked out the link that was posted with info re. whether it's possible to have both medical card and private insurance, only to find a "Page not found" message, and although I looked on the site, I was unable to find an answer - can you please post the relevant  info, as I've been looking for this online for ages ! Thanks.


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## Brouhahaha (11 Jun 2010)

The health insurance company would most likely exclude his illness as it is pre-existing. Read their terms and conditions on pre-existing illnesses very carefully. 

The insurance would still cover other unrelated illnesses that may occur in the future


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## MrEBear (11 Jun 2010)

Hi Sadie, it is perfectly acceptable to have both but I would advise taking a policy that only covers what the med card won't.

As far as the pre-existing condition is concerned, there is normally a wIring period that would need to be served before this would be covered. The lenght of the waiting period differs for company to company ad depending on age. Your best bet is to shop around


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## pudds (11 Jun 2010)

Quinn Healthcare:

*Waiting times for pre-existing medical conditions*

*Age at enrolment* *Waiting period*     under 55 ~ 5 years,     55-59 ~ 7 years,      over 60 ~ 10 years

[broken link removed]


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