Hello again,
In a nutshell, no, - Aviva is cheapest and best value at the moment for plans at that level.
The only other plan, with VHI, with similar cover is as follows;
Plan PMI 10 11; adult price; 945pa - similar hospital cover, near enough outpatient cover.
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?216&252/
Regarding your 30 yr old healthy, single son - it's a personal choice as to what level of hospital cover you think is
sufficient to suit a person at different stages of their life.
There are a few basic plans available for 500 to 700+ which cover all public hospitals and some include private hospital cover but
with high shortfalls per night.
Many people prefer to use the big public hospitals by choice even though they would have private hospital cover. They feel
that the consultants have a wider and varied level of experience, dealing with a much broader range of cases on a daily basis.
Just a couple of things to be aware of if switching to basic level plans.
1. Overseas Cover; If your son has multi-trip travel insurance, you would need to ensure the section called 'overseas' cover on the new
health insurance plan has adequate cover. Some basic health plans have NO overseas cover, so if he switched to one of these plans,
the multi-trip travel policy would become invalid straight away.
Out of the four cheapest plans with each health insurance provider, the VHI plan is the only one offering full overseas cover;
Details as follows;
VHI Plan; One Plan Starter; Adult price; 536pa - public hospital cover(no private or hi-tech hospital cover), no outpatient cover.
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?216&103/
The 3 cheapest plans with the other providers are fine also, he would just need to have a seperate travel insurance policy if required for
holidays, as no overseas cover is included on these plans. Its not a problem, just something to be aware of.
All it would mean is that when buying travel insurance, the discount thats usually given if you also have health insurance, would NOT apply as
the plan does not include overseas health cover.
Details as follows;
1. Laya Healthcare; Essential Secure; adult price; 495pa - public hospital cover only, no outpatient, no overseas.
2. Glohealth; Basic Plan; adult price; 560pa - public hospital cover only,no outpatient cover, no overseas.
3. Aviva; Health Starter; adult price; 613pa - public hospital cover, limited outpatient cover, some overseas cover.
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?299&296&271/
2. Outpatient Radiology; Just another thing to be aware of when switching to basic level plans, not all scan centres are covered for
getting x-rays etc. Public hospital scan centres are fully covered, you would need to ring whatever provider you choose, to check what other
scan centres are fully covered or if not fully covered what extra costs would apply before booking an x-ray etc.
Basic level plans are fine, and will become a lot more popular in the coming years if the constant price hikes don't stop...
If he had no health insurance and no medical card, it would cost 80euro per night x 10 nights max = 800 per year for a stay in a public
hospital. So it is very good value for approx a tenner per week.
As a final option, if he wanted to keep private hospital cover, there is another 2 options with VHI to consider. They include a hospital excess
of 250 or 500 respectively for a hospital stay(not per night, just if admitted for treatment or surgery).
Details as follows;
One Plan 250; adult price; 789pa - public hospital cover, private hospital cover(with 250 hospital excess) full overseas cover,no outpatient.
or
One Plan 500; adult price; 676pa - public hospital cover, private hospital cover(with 500 hospital excess)full overseas cover,no outpatient.
www.hia.i/ci/comparison/step3?216&253&254/
Hope this explains the pros and cons a little clearer and helps with your decision making.
Regards Snowyb