# Alternatives to Quinn's HealthManager Starter?



## NovaFlare77 (19 Oct 2009)

My brother in law’s health insurance is coming up for renewal shortly and he’s asked me to look into lower cost alternatives for him and his family. So I want to see if anyone has any advice on what alternatives are out there for him (Normally, I’m the one giving the advice on here, but no harm getting other people’s opinions to make sure I don’t miss anything).

He and his family (wife and 2 kids) are currently on Quinn’s HealthManager Starter. This covers them for a private room in public and some private hospitals.  They live in Co Cork so they’re not overly concerned about cover in private hospitals, but obviously want to keep private or semi private cover in public hospitals. They also want to keep cover things like GP visits, alternative therapists and A&E visits. They’ve gone public for both births, so maternity isn’t a deal breaker.

So far VHI’s First Plan Level 1 seems to be good value (a good deal cheaper, but some of the out-patient benefits are more limited), but I haven’t finished looking around yet.

Has anyone in a similar situation moved to any other plans or have any advice?

Cheers


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## NovaFlare77 (27 Oct 2009)

Just a quick update for anyone in the same position, I had a look around the cheapest equivalent I could find was Quinn's CompanyCare Starter. From what I could see, it's exactly the same as what the family has but is about €50 cheaper.

VHI's Company Plan Starter was just over €100 cheaper, but the out-patient cover was more limited (limit of 4 each visits to a GP, alternative therapists, etc). They use chiropractors and GPs a bit so it wasn't really going to work out in the long run. Also, there's no cover for private hospitals on this plan, in case anyone else is looking at it.

Oh, and First Plan Plus wasn't cheaper, I'd forgotten the second child!


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## Odea (27 Oct 2009)

I contacted Quinn to ask about their Essential Plus Excess policy wherby you will be covered in a private hospital but there is an excess per night of €220. Can anyone tell me how much it costs to stay in a private hospital overnight?


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## NovaFlare77 (27 Oct 2009)

Depends on the hospital in question, if it's a private room or a semi private room and possibly the treatment you're getting. Also, the rates a hospital will have agreed with a health insurer may be higher or lower than those they will charge a self-paying non-insured person.

That said, Essential Plus Exess is supposed to cover a semi private room in a private hospital, subject to an excess per claim, not per night. Did they say what the payment of €220 per night was for and in what hospital it applied?


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