# Hia.ie: informative but still confused: 2OAP's, 1A & 5Ch. 5.5k VHI health+ excess pB.



## Brensky (10 Jan 2013)

Looking for suggestions despite having trawled the Hia website which is informative but still confusing

Myself and my parents and my 5 small kids are on vhi health plus access plan b. and the renewal is €5,500. 

I realise the kids and possibly myself are over insured and tbh can't really afford our portion of renewal.

However my parents are in their 70's and I am reluctant to encourage them to downgrade cover as my dad has high blood pressure and mum osteoporosis. All under control. They live down the country close to a regional hospital and local private hospital.

Any suggestions as I am weary now of all comparisons.  

Renewal is jan 15

Many thanks in advance


----------



## mercman (10 Jan 2013)

Have you tried Aviva ??


----------



## suzie (11 Jan 2013)

I'm sure our friend snowy will come up trumps but here's a few question that with answers might focus the search:

1) Is outpatient with low excess required?
2) I find laya policies good, but do "feel" the hospitals covered are more dublin/urban centric. Check their list and see if it meets your parents needs if they needed inpatient access
3) as stated many times the kids can go on a different plan from the adults. laya are doing 1/2 price and I dont think other providers have a better discount at the moment
4) Do you forseen or know any of the insured will need to see a consultant this year? As laya dont apply any age related waiting periods on outpatient benefits. (well so I've read here!!). Thus you can reclaim these benefits straight away....

wrt to hia, if you narrow down the criteria to your needs it will give you options, just keep comparing!!....

S.


----------



## glynner (11 Jan 2013)

Have you asked them to give you a corporate/business quote. They dont offer it you have to ask for it and that goes for all the insurance companies. I was with VHI and got a reduction when i asked for their corporate rates and switced a couple of years ago to Aviva and asked the same.


----------



## snowyb (11 Jan 2013)

Hi Brensky,

Here are a few suggestions for yourself and five children:
Staying with VHI;
      Plan PMI 21 11     Adult Price;  993
                              Kids Price;   1050 (Note with VHI you pay for 3 children
                                                        2 kids are free)(350 x 3)
                              Total Price; 2043
This plan offers good hospital cover and good outpatient cover(ie you can claim a refund for gp visits,dental,consultants etc for all the kids and yourself - if you are under 50 yrs.)
[broken link removed]

2nd Option with VHI;
If you just want good hospital cover and no outpatient cover;

      Plan PMI 15 11    Adult Price  875
   One Plan Choice     Kids Price    699  (233 x 3)
                              Total Price 1574
[broken link removed]

You can mix and match the above suggestions ie you could choose PMI 21 11 for the children and PMI 15 11 for yourself   or One Plan Choice for the kids and PMI 21 11 for yourself.


Glohealth Insurance

Better Plan  Adult Price 795        Good hospital cover, no outpatients cover
                 Kids Price  975  - Note if any kids are under 3 yrs, they go free.
                Total Price 1770
[broken link removed]


Laya Healthcare
Adult Options;
Total Health Choice               Adult  874 -good hosp + good outpatients
         or
Healthwise Plus No Excess      Adult   885 - good hospital only
         or 
Company Care Plus                 Adult 1059 - good hospital + extra outpatients
[broken link removed]

Options for 5 Children with Laya - half price offer
Health Smart - kids price 130 x 5 = 650 good hospital cover 
Health Smart Family - kids price 200 x 5 = 1000 good hosp + good outpatients

[broken link removed]
Note a 3% charge applies with Laya if you pay by instalments.


Options with Aviva Health;  Adult Option; Health Plan 05  price  952
                                                                or 
                                                        Level 2 Health Excess 899
                                      Kids Option;  Level 2 Family Health  794 (3x214)
                                                                                             ( 2x76)
[broken link removed]

Hope this makes your decision a bit easier.

NOTE;  As regards your parents cover, all illnesses and medical conditions are covered as before when you change to a plan with similar hospital cover.

I would recommend 'Company Care Plus' with Laya Healthcare  Price 1059each
[broken link removed]

This is an excellent plan especially for over 65, good hospital cover and also very good outpatient cover for consultant,gp visits etc. Laya have no outpatient waiting times for any age group so they could claim for these benefits January 2014.  Also, there is no restriction with Laya for orthopaedic surgery, unlike 80% restriction with VHI.

or
With VHI I would recommend Company Plan Extra Level 3   Price 1180 each
[broken link removed]

Note; There is an 80% restriction with VHI Level 3  for certain orthopaedic and eye surgery. This restriction only applies to private and hi-tech hospitals, it does not apply to any public hospital.  If they were prepared to travel to Dublin if they needed that type of surgery - Blackrock Clinic and Mater Private are fully covering orthopaedic surgery - ie they are not charging patients the 20% shortfall, for the past 5 years.  Otherwise, they would be fully covered in 
 your regional public hospital.  Your local private hospital could charge the 20% shortfall - you would have to confirm with them, if the need arose.

Secondly, there is very good outpatient cover with Level 3 plan but as your parents are over 65, VHI would apply a 2 year waiting time before they could claim for consultant visits etc. 

Both plans are worth considering, similar to Plan B, at a cheaper price.

Even though your renewal date is next week, if you haven't made a decision by then, you still have a further 14 days to change to a different plan with VHI or to change to another provider.

I hope I haven't given too much info to take in, all at once.
Best of luck,

Snowyb


----------



## Brensky (12 Jan 2013)

Many thanks for taking the time to reply to me with suggestions. I would never have considered LAYA as an option for my parents but I recognise it represents very good value for what it includes and will definitely steer my parents towards the company care plus policy. They have restrictions for their local private hospital and I am waiting on a call back from laya so I can hear what these restricted procedures are before they switch 

For myself and children VHI looking probably the option but I need more time to compare their pm 1511 or pm 0811 among others.


----------

