Health Insurance Best Renewal option for over 70's with Laya

I'm looking at the renewals for my parents both mid 70's for their current plan Laya Essential Plus Excess. Its has come in at just over €6.5k for both of them which seems astronomical to me.

They are not great for switching but I've got them to agree to look at better price options for them with Laya. I'm having difficulty finding a policy I am sure will continue to cover their current medical history without having irrelevant cover for them for maternity etc.

List of ongoing ailments that are being monitored yearly, are cancer care (in remission thankfully) heart stents, cataracts, collapsing spinal discs and gynaecology issues along with the usual blood pressure, arthritis.

As these are ongoing, moving to another provider and having to serve a waiting period will not work. I have read the plan they are on is one which people should consider moving off of as there is better value, would anyone have a recommendation on a similar plan that definitely covers their health issues.

Thanks in advance

Hi Hilda,

As you mentioned yourself Essential Plus with excess appears heavily overpriced. At that price it still has excesses and poor day to day over.

If they are happy to reduce their cover to a semi private room then I would recommend to take a look at Simply Connect (€1362) or Simply Connect Plus (€1464). Both of these plans have hospital excesses of €50 day case and €150 inpatient. On simply connect it's for the first 2 inpatient claims a year. On plus it's only for the first. You can pay an additional shortfall of €165 a night for a private room if they wish (and one is available, they are not guaranteed unless the hospital only has private beds eg Blackrock. If you are given a private room due to need (ie. Infection risk) it should be free regardless of only being covered for semi private rooms.) Another difference is in day to day cover. Both plans only have an excess of €1. The max total refund on simply connect is €500, on the plus it's €1000. You get much better 50% refund for outpatient consultant costs on these plans compared to their current plan.

If private hospital room cover is important then take a look at Connect Simplicity (€1464). It has similar excesses to the plans above and similar good day to day cover.

All plans above appear fully covered for special procedures in the Beacon along with other "normal" private hospitals. The mater private and Blackrock clinic have an additional shortfall of €175 per night. This is an improvement over Essential Plus with Excess which has an additional shortfall of €255 a night in all 3 "high tech" hospitals, including the Beacon.

All plans above include full cover for the 5 Orthopedic procedures that Laya list. However info on opthalmic procedures is vague so I would query that before switching for the Cataracts.

If you query any of these plans with Laya I would ask for confirmation about cover for all the existing medical issue they have and or claims they are currently making. They should provide you with some solid info as all calls are recorded. You can also ask for written confirmation if you wish. You may already have procedure codes they have used before and you could ask these for Laya on these plans. Unlike other insurers Laya don't publish a full list of their procedure codes so that only way to get solid info is from them directly on a case by case basis.

Hope this helpful for you. They could be looking at savings of around €3700 on these plans.

Hi Hilda2021,

Laya Essential Plus Excess at €3083 up front or €3176 per person if paying monthly is very, very expensive for what it offers.

You have outlined the ailments being monitored for your parents and could I suggest that you also keep cover for orthopaedics if at all possible given the age profile of your Mum and Dad.

Their current policy covers a private room in private Hospitals. However it does not have, for the price they are paying, great everyday medical expenses cover.

I suggest you give Connect Simplicity at €1464 up front or €1507, if paying monthly, per person some consideration.

It fully covers up to a private room in private hospitals other than the Mater Private and the Blackrock Clinic.

No excess applies to 5 orthopaedic procedures (hip and knee replacement) in 12 private hospitals

The excess per private Hospital claim is €150 on the first two hospital admissions only.

The everyday medical expenses family excess is €1 compared to €440 with their current plan. Should you not reach your €1,000 cap the remainder is transferred to other members on the policy who are on a Connect Simplicity plan. what effectively this means is that should your parent, between them, have up to €4000 in claimable expense they will get €2000 back.

Connect Simplicity at the price is worthy of serious consideration and would not lessen greatly the level of cover currently afforded to your parents.

I hope this is helpful.

Starrynights, thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed response, the savings possibility would be massive for them. I will contact Laya and get written clarification on their ongoing medical issues. Again, thank you for your help.

Hilda2021 said:

Starrynights, thank you for taking the time to make such a detailed response, the savings possibility would be massive for them. I will contact Laya and get written clarification on their ongoing medical issues. Again, thank you for your help.

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You are very welcome, it's no problem at all. I forgot to mention that all insurers have to provide continuity of cover. That means if you switch insurers they will cover existing issues ( as long as your new plan at least matches the old plan in terms of hospital cover). You will not have to wait the 5 year pre existing condition period again.

Where waiting periods apply is if you move to a plan with higher cover for already pre existing issues. Then a 2 year waiting period applies. This also applied when switching plans with the same provider but can occasionally be waived by the insurer. For example where the excess are lower on the plans recommended to you above, then you may have to pay the old higher excesses of "Essential Plus with excess" for up to 2 years for any claims relating to their existing conditions. The good thing is with Laya this only applies to hospital/inpatient claims. Day to day cover is improved immediately for all ages with Laya.

Info on all insurers waiting periods when switching is here:

Thank your Riomhaire, sorry I missed your post last night, I now have a better idea of what's on offer and the savings to be made, I will also ensure orthopaedic cover is in place, thanks again.