Health Insurance Any better alternatives to LAYA Inspire plan for 2 adults in mid 50s?

Hi, We (married couple, mid 50's, no medical issues) are about to renew our LAYA Inspire plan, cost is €1220 each per year. Would anyone have any advice on a similar product with any supplier but a bit cheaper? There is a shortfall of €500 per night in Blackrock and Mater clinics for semi-private room. Hopefully not going there, but a similar product with a lower shortfall might be worth looking at.

Our son, 19, no medical issues, is also on Inspire, cost €610. Is there a cheaper alternative for him?

Thanks in advance for any comments,

Regards
Trident

Hi,

Laya inspire is one of the cheapest corporate plans on the market. PMI 52 10 would be a VHI plan at almost the exact same price and also I think their cheapest corporate plan. These plans are probably as best value as you are going to get.

https://www.totalhealthcover.ie/special_offers

At this price most plans will only cover day cases fully at the Blackrock or Mater Private. Semi private inpatient is usually only partially covered. However many other hospitals such as the beacon, hermitage etc are fully covered for semi private stays (excluding certain special procedures) so this a personal thing as to how much cover you want.

If you want to improve your level of cover unfortunately you will have to increase your premium. If you are happy with the level of cover these plans provide and want to make sure you are not overpaying these are the cheapest they get.

Thanks Starrynights for your reply.
Would you have any advice on a better policy for our son - 19, no medical issues, is also on Inspire, cost €610. Is there a cheaper alternative for him?

trident said:

Thanks Starrynights for your reply.
Would you have any advice on a better policy for our son - 19, no medical issues, is also on Inspire, cost €610. Is there a cheaper alternative for him?

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Take a look at the HIA website for a comparison on all plans. You can put in his age, existing plan etc and see an overview of everything.

I took a look at it there for you and in fact there seem to be better options as pricing for 19 year olds doesn't follow the same hierarchy as full adult pricing.

PMI 12 11 comes up as the cheapest €366.53. This plan is very good, has higher hospital excesses though of €125 & €250 for fixed price procedures. It also has a €100 excess for day to day cover which effectively adds €100 to the premium if your son were to claim any day to day expenses making it realistically cost up to €466.

Therefore if he does claim any day to day expenses PMI 07 10 at €415.67 looks like the best all around option. This plan is arguably a bit better than inspire and a lot cheaper for him. It has the same hospital excesses of €50/€150 as Inspire but you only pay the €150 inpatient excess on the first claim per year vs per claim on Inspire. Also day to day has only a €1 excess, same as inspire. However there are no x10 visit limits on certain practitioners.

By the sound of things your son doesn't really claim anything at the moment as you say he has no issues. So really you want good cover incase something does happen and PMI 0710 appears to do this while giving a good saving. Not sure where you live but you probably want good minor injury clinic cover for your son incase of sports/physical injuries or minor/moderate illness etc you can avoid public hospital A&E. This is where the VHI plan comes into its own. Inspire gives you €150 off the total bill in any approved clinic. The doctor alone costs €130 in a Laya branded clinic. With PMI 07 10 you pay an excess of €50 to see the doctor. Then all following costs are 50% covered up to a cap of €100. This means a visit to Swiftcare costs max €150 regardless of the amount of x-rays, casts etc. For info x-rays cost around €100 a picture in these type of clinics.

Personally I think PMI 07 10 might suit him best. Hope this is helpful to you.

All the best

Thanks a million for all that Starrynights. One last question, my 19 year old son is a third level student, do any policies give discounts for that?

trident said:

Thanks a million for all that Starrynights. One last question, my 19 year old son is a third level student, do any policies give discounts for that?

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No problem at all. I don't think there are any additional discounts, other than the discount already applied due to young adult rates.

For Young Adults there's a Laya plan for €471 which is a bit cheaper.