Quinn Heathcare Essential Starter

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zanub

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Hi, i've just switched to Quinn Essential Starter. I was previously insured with Hibernian on their I plan & the new premium was €548! I've gone with Quinn's policy for €330.00. All I want is hospital cover inpatient/outpatient and cover if abroad, no bells & whistles policy.

Anyway Hibernian rang me today to find out why I was cancelling & I told them there policy was too expensive (i'm just gone on short time at work). They have now put a seed of doubt in my mind now because she said they Quinn have an excess for their hospital cover and it takes longer to claim?

Has anyone here any experience of dealing with Quinn? I have health insurance with nearly 10 years now with Vivas/Hibernian & I've never had to claim (touch wood) so hopefully 2009/2010 is no exception, I'm 28 and am healthy but sure who knows what the future holds......

I will be ringing Quinn later once I check their literature re excess.

Any advice Please?
 
Essential Starter fullys covers a semi private room in public hospitals (or a private room in some smaller public hospitals) and there is no excess applicable to the hospital cover.

You have access to private hospitals as well, but you are liable for part of the costs yourself. The amount varies depending on the private hospital you use but it starts at a payment of €250 per day.

You can find a list of hospitals covered by Essential Starter here.

Regarding the longer claiming time, I haven't claimed from them (nor am I a member) so I can't comment. However, something to bear in mind is that all insurers have direct payment agreements with nearly all hospitals, so if there is a delay in processing payments, then the hospitals are the ones that are bear the inconvenience of the delay, not the customer. It is possible that a hospital will chase the customer up for payment if they get impatient about the payment time, but I used to work for BUPA (and in a hospital prior to that) and I've never heard of that being done.

Hope this all helps. The cynic within me says that it sounds like the Hibernian agent is trying to keep a member (understandable enough) but not being completely truthful about everything. However, it's perfectly possible that the agent is just misinformed.

One other thing. What level did you have with Hibernian? I only ask to make sure that you are on a similar plan with Quinn.
 
I've been a Quinn member since they took over from BUPA. Have made annual claims (outpatient expenses) and haven't experienced any delays - usually settled within 4/5 weeks or so.

Have had two claims for hospital procedure costs (MRI and Laser Eye Surgery), both paid directly to the service provider, I didn't hear from either regarding delays in paying.

I was on Essential Plus, and have moved this year to Essential Plus Starter, which has saved me €140 on my premium for not a lot of difference in my cover.
 
zanub said:
Hi, i've just switched to Quinn Essential Starter. I was previously insured with Hibernian on their I plan & the new premium was €548! I've gone with Quinn's policy for €330.00. All I want is hospital cover inpatient/outpatient and cover if abroad, no bells & whistles policy.

Anyway Hibernian rang me today to find out why I was cancelling & I told them there policy was too expensive (i'm just gone on short time at work). They have now put a seed of doubt in my mind now because she said they Quinn have an excess for their hospital cover and it takes longer to claim?
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There is no excess payable under Quinn Essential Starter if you are attending a participating public hospital. The Quinn Essential Starter plan also covers you for certain heart procedures in the Beacon Hospital and Mater Private where an excesses of €200 applies. The outpatient excess for the Quinn Essential Starter plan is €150 but GP visits and Dental visits,to name but two, are not available on this scheme. Some outpatient procedures under the Quinn Essential Starter plan at specific treatment centres don't attract any excess. Double check all this imo.
 
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demoivre said:
There is no excess payable under Quinn Essential Starter if you are attending a participating public hospital. The Quinn Essential Starter plan also covers you for certain heart procedures in the Beacon Hospital and Mater Private where an excesses of €200 applies. The outpatient excess for the Quinn Essential Starter plan is €150 but GP visits and Dental visits,to name but two, are not available on this scheme. Double check all this imo.
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Small point of order: Essential Starter members have full cover for certain heart surgeries in those two hospitals with no excess. (http://www.quinn-healthcare.com/products_and_services/essential_starter/cardiac.htm)

You're correct about the out-patient cover as well, very little is allowable towards the excess - http://www.quinn-healthcare.com/products_and_services/essential_starter/out_patients.htm.
 
NovaFlare77 said:
Essential Starter fullys covers a semi private room in public hospitals (or a private room in some smaller public hospitals) and there is no excess applicable to the hospital cover.

You have access to private hospitals as well, but you are liable for part of the costs yourself. The amount varies depending on the private hospital you use but it starts at a payment of €250 per day.

You can find a list of hospitals covered by Essential Starter here.

Regarding the longer claiming time, I haven't claimed from them (nor am I a member) so I can't comment. However, something to bear in mind is that all insurers have direct payment agreements with nearly all hospitals, so if there is a delay in processing payments, then the hospitals are the ones that are bear the inconvenience of the delay, not the customer. It is possible that a hospital will chase the customer up for payment if they get impatient about the payment time, but I used to work for BUPA (and in a hospital prior to that) and I've never heard of that being done.

Hope this all helps. The cynic within me says that it sounds like the Hibernian agent is trying to keep a member (understandable enough) but not being completely truthful about everything. However, it's perfectly possible that the agent is just misinformed.

One other thing. What level did you have with Hibernian? I only ask to make sure that you are on a similar plan with Quinn.
Click to expand...

The hibernian plan I was covered for was I Plan Level 1 Hospital cover (no day to day) I queried Quinn about the excess for outpatient and there is a €150.00 excess for A&E & Consultant fees. I presented a scenario of where I had to go into the hospital for a scan as an outpatient and would I be covered. The agent went checking with her superior and the answer I received was say hypotecally if I had to go into for a kidney scan as an out patient, my cover does to pay for this.

So, I'm kind of concerned that if I had to go in for an x ray or something they will not pay. She did say the essential starter only covered the bare minimun on out patient care. I'm thinking of upgrading to another policy. Any advice. At this rate I should have stuck with Hibernian!!! Arrrgh!!
 
demoivre said:
Thanks for pointing that out - I see now it's only the Essential plus starter plan and Essential plus plan that attract the excess for those procedures .
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Going off topic now, but the excess doesn't apply to those plans for those procedures either. See here and here. Basically, as far as I can determine, for certain types of heart surgeries in "hi tech" hospitals, quinn-healthcare members have full cover, no excess. What will, depending on your plan, is the hi tech hospital you're covered in.

Just curious, where are you reading this information? If it's from the QUINN rules booklets, you need a degree in Learning Law through Ancient Greek to understand some it :D.
 
NovaFlare77 said:
Going off topic now, but the excess doesn't apply to those plans for those procedures either. See here and here. Basically, as far as I can determine, for certain types of heart surgeries in "hi tech" hospitals, quinn-healthcare members have full cover, no excess. What will, depending on your plan, is the hi tech hospital you're covered in.

Just curious, where are you reading this information? If it's from the QUINN rules booklets, you need a degree in Learning Law through Ancient Greek to understand some it :D.
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That is where I'm reading it from and while I did misread it the first time I have it front of me now again and it seems to me from the info given that the excess applies to the Essential plus starter plan and Essential plus plan !
 
zanub said:
The hibernian plan I was covered for was I Plan Level 1 Hospital cover (no day to day) I queried Quinn about the excess for outpatient and there is a €150.00 excess for A&E & Consultant fees. I presented a scenario of where I had to go into the hospital for a scan as an outpatient and would I be covered. The agent went checking with her superior and the answer I received was say hypotecally if I had to go into for a kidney scan as an out patient, my cover does to pay for this.

So, I'm kind of concerned that if I had to go in for an x ray or something they will not pay. She did say the essential starter only covered the bare minimun on out patient care. I'm thinking of upgrading to another policy. Any advice. At this rate I should have stuck with Hibernian!!! Arrrgh!!
Click to expand...

There are certain types of scans that are fully covered on your plan, provided you go to the hospital/centre listed as being fully covered. Have a look here for a list of the types of scans and where they are covered.

From looking at their website, normal "radiology" items like x-rays aren't covered. However, I'm nearly 100% certain that the Minimum Benefit Regulations state that all health insurance products must include a certain level of out-patient cover and radiology is one of the items specified. In other words, I think QUINN have to provide some element of x-ray cover.

If you wanted to pursue it further, maybe you could ring the Health Insurance Authority to see if my interpretation is correct. While they can't give legal advice, they should at least be able to tell you if products can be sold that don't have out-patient radiology cover. If it transpires that products have to have this benefit, it strengthens your case with QUINN.

One other factor to consider is that even if the benefit was there, would the cost of an x-ray be such that you would get anything back after the €150 excess?

Hope all of this helps.
 
demoivre said:
That is where I'm reading it from and while I did misread it the first time I have it front of me now again and it seems to me from the info given that the excess applies to the Essential plus starter plan and Essential plus plan!
Click to expand...

Go to (XI) on Page 34 of the Essential Scheme Rules and Table of Benefits. I tried to past the text, but it just appears as small squares.


 
NovaFlare77 said:
Go to (XI) on Page 34 of the Essential Scheme Rules and Table of Benefits. I tried to past the text, but it just appears as small squares.
Click to expand...

The booklet I referred to contains only 12 pages , deals with the 5 Essential type plans, and was sent to me in August 2008. Regardless of whether or not this excess applies as per our discussion, I think the important point is that it's crucial that you check with your insurer before you present for any elective procedure to see precisely what you are covered for.
 
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