Irish Life Health 2A+2C Aviva Health Excess and Family Value: to cover public room in private hospital.

1

1carrot2

Registered User
Messages
60
Hi,
I have seen so many people post here and get amazing advice on health insurance for their specific requirements. I know people continually point to the HIA website but the amount of policies is mind boggling.

I am hoping someone who finds this stuff easier to understand than me can give me some pointers on the best value health insurance plan for 2 adults and 2 children that would cover public room in private hospital.

I would be so grateful..
 
Hi 1carrot2,

Are you taking out health insurance for the first time or do you have a policy up for renewal? If you are a policy holder, what is your renewal date and what plan are you on at the moment?


Snowyb
 
Hi Snowyb,
Renewal date is February 15th.
We have had health insurance for life - always with VHI but switched to Aviva last year.
(Level 2 Health Excess and Family Value Plan).
Feel these policies were misrepresented to me, as with an excess of €250, I expected to have to pay the first €250 of any outpatient expenses, and that any balance would be eligible for benefit. However, I had to pay almost double the stated 'excess' as AVIVA calculate their excess on the benefit i.e. they don't pay out on the first €250 in benefit payable.
I hope I am making sense.
Anyway, I am looking to find the best value policy that covers public in private hospital - to include Mater Private.
I would be very grateful for any advice you could offer me.
Thanks In Advance..
 
Hi 1carrot2,

Regarding outpatient excess, the best option is to choose a plan with a 1 euro excess so as to maximise your refund for day to day medical expenses.

The best value plan, at the moment, which meets your requirements(private hospital cover + Mater Private cover + good outpatients with 1euro excess) is:

Laya Healthcare

Total Health Choice: Adult 874 Child 273

www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?249&323/

Laya also has a half price offer for kids on 2 plans as follows:

Health Smart Child price 130pa (good hospital, limited outpatient cover
500 euro excess per night with Mater Private)
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?289&294/

Health Smart Family Child 200pa (good hospital + good outpatient cover
500 euro excess per night with Mater Private)
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?289&295/

Note: A 3% charge applies with Laya if you pay by instalments.




There are equivalent plans with the other 3 providers, details and prices as follows:

VHI: Plan PMI 14 11 Adult 1014pa Child 355pa
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?249&257/

Aviva: Business Plan Plus Adult 1013pa Child 351pa
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?249&216/

Glohealth: Better Plan Adult 842pa Child 206pa
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?249&298/
plus
Daily Care Better Adult 198pa Child 99pa
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?outpatient&304/

Hope this enlightens your decision making.

Snowyb
 
Thank You so much for this Snowyb.

Just to explain, my husband had a knee operation last year, which meant we had a lot of outpatients bills. That was unusual but I am not necessarily looking for a policy with high outpatients cover.

I have no problem with an excess - I was just expecting the excess I nominated on my current policy to be all I would have to pay before qualifying for benefit.

I hope you don't mind me coming back at you but could I ask you to recommend a policy that has a higher excess than the €1 mentioned above, where the premiums are cheaper as a result of the higher excess?

Thanks so much again..
 
Just to clarify situation regarding plans with a higher outpatient excess - ie 30 or 50 euro excess. There are a few plans with VHI or Aviva but they are not cheaper than Total Health Choice. They are as follows:

Aviva: Health Plan 05 Price 952pa
VHI; PMI 10 11 Price 945pa
PMI 11 11 Price 958pa
PMI 19 11 Price 977pa

www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?307&252&255&266/


Total Health Choice is the best value plan at the moment, it ticks all the boxes, including price. Just because a plan has a higher excess, doesn't necessarily mean a cheaper premium, as shown above.

I suppose it also depends on what company a person is happy to do business with, at the end of the day.

Snowyb
 
Thank You so much for your time on this Snowyb.

When I initially posed the question, I was looking to reduce my health insurance premium. Total Health Choice is higher for all four of us than our current renewal amount - but I understand totally what you are saying about it being better value when you take the excess into account.

This is exactly what I was looking for - thank you so much!
 
It's getting to the stage with private health insurance, where it's nearly exceptional to find a plan under 900pa, that includes hospital cover upto hi-tech level and good outpatient cover with a low excess.

Plans lower than 850pa, usually have limited or no hi-tech hospital cover, higher hospital excesses for private hospitals and limited outpatient cover.

If a person is happy to just deal with the major public hospitals, there are a lot of savings to be made. The reality is that most people, with health insurance, still deal with the main hospitals anyway, so they may not use their cover to its full extent. Its a personal choice type of thing, and depends how much a person is willing to compromise.

Regarding your own situation, the two adults can choose Total Health Choice while the two children could be put on either of the Health Smart plans to lower the overall cost. Parents can be on different plans to the kids, with the same company. In fact, each person could be on totally different plans if they wanted.

Hope this explains things a little clearer.

Snowyb
 
Sorry, Just wondering if you know what they mean by the cover of "Semi private rate " ? I understand what a semi private room is but don't understand what they mean by semi private rate ?
 
lipton said:
......what they mean by the cover of "Semi private rate "? ......
Click to expand...


This means that if you use a semi-private room, the health insurance will pay for the room. If you use a private room, the health insurance will pay the rate for a semi-private room and you pay the rest.
 
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