Health Insurance Alternative to Laya Control 600 Connect.

Laya Control 600 Connect.

Both myself and my wife have been on this policy (separately) for 4 years now. Fifth year renewal coming due.

The price of this policy to me has gone from €852 to €1054 (new renewal quote) over the years. In 2020, Laya refunded us some monies due to Covid etc....no refunds in 2021. The price increase this year is €71.04 per person.

Is there a similar and cheaper policy out there that I could substitute for the Laya Control 600 Connect?

You may find some previous discussions on AAM about this type of move .

I see on this policy that there is a €25 payment toward GP visits. Does this mean that if I have 5 x €65 GP visit costs that I can claim back 5 x €25 off my policy? Is this subject to an excess?

Odea said:

I see on this policy that there is a €25 payment toward GP visits. Does this mean that if I have 5 x €65 GP visit costs that I can claim back 5 x €25 off my policy? Is this subject to an excess?

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If you go to the www.hia.ie website you will be able to check this policy out and answer any of the question that you might have. I can't confirm about Laya but that is certainly the case with VHI. We get 50% back on our G.P. visits and then 20% tax relief that we claim on our medical expenses. Our overall limit on our day-to-day expenses (which covers the G.P. visits, consultants etc.) is €1,000 per year.

Sue Ellen said:

We get 50% back on our G.P. visits

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With no excess?

Checking with Laya....on the Control 600 Connect....you get €20 back per visit but only after the €150 individual excess is reached. In other words, you cannot claim anything until you have visited your GP at least 7 times during the year.....

What is the name of the VHI Policy with no excess, is it expensive?

Laya have a policy with an excess of just €1 but you pay more for this policy.

Odea said:

What is the name of the VHI Policy with no excess, is it expensive?

Laya have a policy with an excess of just €1 but you pay more for this policy.

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Policy PMI0710. Premium per adult €1,323.



Excess would appear to be €1.00
Looking at it again it would appear that the maximum to be paid out per member is €2,000 and not €1,000 as I had thought and mentioned above.

Section 9 – Day-to-day medical expenses (benefits are per visit, per member, unless otherwise indicated)
A General practitioner - unlimited visits 50%
B Consultant consultation - unlimited visits 50%
C Pathology - consultants’ fees 50%
D Radiology - consultants’ fees for professional services 50%
E Pathology/Radiology or other diagnostic tests (refer to Section 8 for out-patient
MRI benefits) - 50% of agreed charges in an approved out-patient centre. Contact
us for details of eligible diagnostic tests and reimbursements
€500 per year
F Pre- and post-natal care (combined visits) €450
G Dental practitioner - 7 visits €25
H Emergency dental treatment Up to €500
per accident
I Practice nurse - unlimited visits 50%
J STI screening Up to €100
K Physiotherapist - 10 visits €25
L Clinical Psychologist – 10 visits €25
M Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Osteopaths, Physical therapists, Reflexologists -
unlimited visits
50%
N Chiropodists/Podiatrists, Dieticians, Occupational therapists, Speech therapists,
Orthoptists - unlimited visits
50%
PMI 07 10
O Optical – eye tests and glasses/contact lenses – 75% of charges in each 24 month
period (^Payment will be made directly to the provider if attending a VSP network
provider, and will not be subject to the annual excess or the annual maximum)
€120^
P Hearing test in each 2 year period €40
Q Health screening - in each 24 month period, covered in accordance with our rules
(contact us for details) *
 Lifestage screening programme in a Vhi Medical Centre €185 per
screen
 Dexa scans in an approved dexa scan centre 50% cover
R Accident & emergency cover - 2 visits €75
S Clinical psychology counselling for oncology treatment (psycho oncology
counselling)* - 10 visits
€50 per visit
T Child counselling - 7 visits €25
U Foetal screening, in the year of the birth €100 per
pregnancy
V Travel vaccinations €60 per year
W Vhi SwiftCare exclusive benefit to Vhi customers*
 Initial consultation (charge is €125 – you pay €50) €75
 Follow-up treatment package after this consultation for x-rays, tests & medical
aids (maximum you will pay is €100 for this follow-up treatment)
50% of total
costs
Vhi SwiftCare appointment services*
 Consultant consultation (orthopaedic, oral maxillofacial & sports medicine) 50%
 Dental practitioner – 7 visits €25
 Physiotherapist – 7 visits €25
X Vhi paediatric clinic*
 Initial Consultant consultation 50%
 Follow up paediatric treatment and services after this consultation including
lactation consultant, dietician, ultrasound, blood tests and x-ray
50% of total
costs
Y Paediatrician benefit
 Paediatrician benefit in addition to the Vhi paediatric clinic benefit listed above
- 1 visit in the year of the birth
50%
Annual excess - per member, per year €1
Annual maximum - per member, per year €2,000
* These benefits are not subject to the annual excess or annual maximum

Thanks Sue Ellen. I rang Laya yesterday and I was asking about a similar but better policy to the Control 600 Connect that is costing €1054. They appear to have a very similar policy to the VHI one above that you provided details on. Laya call theirs Control 300 Create. It costs about €1300 plus.
It also has a €1 excess and instead of a €600 excess for the Private/Hi Tech hospitals the excess is €300. It is subject to the two year rule.

So, I have to decide whether to pay the extra €300 per annum for both myself and my wife. This is €600 extra out of household funds.

We would both need to be attending our GP multiple times per year to get these costs back. Looking back over the past number of years our GP visits are about 2 times per year for my wife and maybe one time for me. I am conscious of the fact that as we approach 70 years of age we may need to go more frequently but it will take a lot of visits to make up the extra €300 each dished out.

I may be able to avail of a free visit GP card when I reach 70......so do I need to upgrade?

Is there a policy out there that pays toward prescriptions? This is where our costs are......

I can avail of a free eye test and hearing test from Specsavers and I can get a free dentist check up from social welfare, is this enough?

I have a policy with Laya called Control 600 Connect. It has an €600 excess for private and semi private hospital stays.

It says on the policy that there is full cover on specified orthopaedic procedures with no excess. Is there a list somewhere of these "specified" procedures.

My wife is developing a dodgy knee. She may have to have an operation or new knee in time. I also see that there is no cover for physiotherapy on this policy. I would imagine that if my wife needs a knee replacement then she will require physio?

Is there another policy out there better suited to orthopaedic cover with either Laya or VHI?

Finally, at the moment her knee is OK but it could get worse. Would it be a good idea now to upgrade our policy to a more expensive plan with better cover, considering that by upgrading we have to wait two years for this better cover to kick in?

This may be the list that you refer to with Laya of specified procedures.

IsleOfMan said:

Finally, at the moment her knee is OK but it could get worse. Would it be a good idea now to upgrade our policy to a more expensive plan with better cover, considering that by upgrading we have to wait two years for this better cover to kick in?

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Just be careful of pre-existing conditions in case they can tell if the problem was already there before any move:

Pre-existing conditions​

The health insurance company may refuse to cover you in respect of pre-existing conditions for longer periods after you join. So, for example, if you have diabetes, the insurance company may refuse to provide you with any cover for diabetes for a specified period but must cover you for any other illnesses once the initial waiting period has expired.

For policies taken out since 1 May 2015, the maximum waiting period for pre-existing conditions is 5 years.

Any waiting period for a pre-existing condition may switch from one Irish insurer to another. If the switch takes place within 13 weeks, the completed waiting periods will not have to be served again. Therefore, you can normally move from one Irish insurer to another without loss of cover.

For contracts taken out before 1 May 2015, longer waiting periods for pre-existing conditions could be applied to people aged 55–59 (maximum 7 years) or aged over 60 (a maximum of 10 years).

IsleOfMan said:

I have a policy with Laya called Control 600 Connect. It has an €600 excess for private and semi private hospital stays.

It says on the policy that there is full cover on specified orthopaedic procedures with no excess. Is there a list somewhere of these "specified" procedures.

My wife is developing a dodgy knee. She may have to have an operation or new knee in time. I also see that there is no cover for physiotherapy on this policy. I would imagine that if my wife needs a knee replacement then she will require physio?

Is there another policy out there better suited to orthopaedic cover with either Laya or VHI?

Finally, at the moment her knee is OK but it could get worse. Would it be a good idea now to upgrade our policy to a more expensive plan with better cover, considering that by upgrading we have to wait two years for this better cover to kick in?

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Hi IsleOfMan,

The information you seek may be viewed in the following thread:

20% shortfall on specified orthopaedic procedures dated 01/01/21​

Control 300 create is worth consideration as an alternative plan. Currently it costs €260 per annum per person more than Control 600 Connect. The inpatient excess for private hospitals is €300 per claim as opposed to €600 on your current plan. The annual out patient family excess is €1 as opposed to €450 with your current plan. Up to €30 per visit is returned for 25 Physio visits.

The waiting time for upgrading in cover does not, to the best of my knowledge, apply to everyday medical expenses.

I hope this is helpful.

I am just about to pay my renewal premium for my Control 600 Connect policy at €1054.99. I just decided to check online what Laya are selling this policy for and it is €979.84.

Why is it €75 more expensive for me on renewal?

Just another question about my Control 600 Connect policy if someone has the answer to, I would be grateful. I have spoken to two different agents in Laya and both gave me opposite answers.

On my benefits table it says the following.

Hospital Cover - Private Hospitals​

The above suggests to me that I have to pay a €600 excess in private hospitals except the Beacon.

and

Hospital Cover - Hi-tech Hospitals, Blackrock Clinic, Mater Private Dublin & Beacon Hospital​

The above suggests to me that in addition to paying the €600 excess in the named hospitals I also have to pay an additional €200 per night on top of the excess. Is this correct? But in the Beacon I don't have to pay the €200?

Riomhaire said:

Control 300 create is worth consideration as an alternative plan. Currently it costs €260 per annum per person more than Control 600 Connect. The inpatient excess for private hospitals is €300 per claim as opposed to €600 on your current plan.

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But looking at the Private/Hi Tech Hospital cover............ in addition to the reduced €300 excess cover with Control 300 Create........... you also have to pay €200 per night on top of the excess in the private hospitals? So it is once off €300 plus €200 extra per night.

This is the same as the Control 600 Connect policy in many ways. There is no reduction in the additional payment that you have to make....the reduction is only in the the excess portion....so you pay once off €600 plus €200 extra per night?

I would have thought that they would have reduced the additional payment considering that you are paying a higher premium.

Is this correct?

Have just been trying to figure out the orthopaedic cover thing again for this year's renewals. hia.ie comparison site suggests it's still only Laya that offers this. I found this document which indicates which plans/hospitals: https://www.layahealthcare.ie/media/site/pdfs/list-of-cover-for-specific-Orthopaedic-Procedures.pdf

When I queried this in another thread in previous years, I did get a comment that the list of procedures is a limited/old fashioned one. Short of pestering a cousin of mine who is an ortho surgeon (wouldn't want to do that, poor fella), how on earth are we mere mortals supposed to know if the list of five codes is for the most common orthopaedic procedures or some slightly obsolete ones?

3660 Arthroplasty of hip using prosthesis, unilateral
3666 Metal on Metal hip resurfacing arthroplasty, unilateral
3661 Revision of total hip arthroplasty, acetabular and femoral components with or without autograft or allograft
3910 Prosthetic replacement (total) of knee joint, unilateral
3911 Revision of arthroplasty of knee joint, with or without allograft, one or more components

I'll ring Laya up tomorrow. Hateful annual chore. I just always feel I'm getting diddled, paying through the nose and if we do need to use the policy probably whatever we need is not going to be covered. And all the comparison charts bang on about the Beacon and the Mater which is not really a lot of use if you don't live in Dublin...!