health insurance

[Haille]

My wife and I were members of VHI 15 years ago. We are thinking of taking out health insurance again.Our children are 21,18 and 15.Could the 21 year old and the 18th year old be included in family policy or would they be charged adult rate.Not sure which insurance group to go for.
My wife is a public servant and I have taken early retirement and I am in process of career change.We put aside some of the money that we would have paid in the intervening years [15]in premiums and blew it on one big holiday.
What will a basic plan cover ? Will it allow us to queue jump ,guarantee us a semi private room.What benefits will it give us over not joining.We initially only joined for maternity benefits only. Is it true that for major surgery the queue is the same for both public and private patients? Or should we start saving for another major holiday?

 

[ClubMan]

There are several existing threads on this topic already. You should check out the HIA reports/surveys when shopping around (the two links are different even though they have the same name):

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[pinkyBear]

Will it allow us to queue jump ,guarantee us a semi private room.What benefits will it give us over not joining.

Its not that you can jump queue - if you need to see a specialist having private cover means you have easier access.
If you are a private patient and you require surgery, by going private you aviod the public queue and yes that is far quicker.

What benefits? Peace of Mind.
Mr Bear and I are in our mid thirties - we dont hvae much money but for as long as we could have afforded it we had priivate health care (even when I was in collage!).
Last year Mr Bear had chest pain (for 3 days - his mum died of a heart attack) he saw a specialist privatly within a week, and had an echo - clear - thank god within a week. If we were public the likely hood is we would still be waiting...

 

[ClubMan]

What will a basic plan cover ? Will it allow us to queue jump

Perhaps.

guarantee us a semi private room.

It may cover the cost but it won't guarantee that you will get one as this will depend on availability etc.

What benefits will it give us over not joining.We initially only joined for maternity benefits only. Is it true that for major surgery the queue is the same for both public and private patients? Or should we start saving for another major holiday?

There are also a few threads in which people argue for and against having ANY health insurance cover.