Best health insurance for pregnancy

[AAA]

My wife and I are planning on starting a family. My wife is currently with Quinn healthcare and on essential cover. Should she change to a higher level of cover? We live in Cork and the only maternity hospital is the public CUH.

 

[ClubMan]

Check the HIA surveys for a comparative summary of cover provided by different insurers and policies:

[broken link removed]
[broken link removed]

 

[litmus]

We're looking into this at the moment and have spoken to VHI about it. We are both on Plan B. Be careful when you change your level of cover, as even if you are an existing member, you need to be on new level of cover for 52 weeks before giving birth for maternity cover to apply. I don't know if this is the same for other providers.

If its any help, I am thinking of switching to VHI Family Plan Plus, which gives a good deal higher level of maternity cover than Plan B, and has day-to-day cover for gp visits for mum and baby as well as paedetrician cover. It is only marginally more expensive than Plan B, but you do lose your partial hospital cover for heart surgery etc at the Blackrock Clinic, Beacon Hospital and Mater Private. But seeing as I am as fit as a fiddle, I am willing to switch for time being and when family is done, then switch back to a fuller hospital cover. My husband is going to stay on Plan B.

There are good downloadable comparison brochures on vhi website. http://www.vhi.ie/downloads/index.jsp I know you are with Quinn so maybe they might have similar info leaflets comparing one product with another?