Health Insurance I'm Thinking of Not Renewing

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faolteam

Registered User
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Hi Folks im one of those people who took out Health Insurance and Have only Got 2 Years of Health Insurance up to May of 2025,

I did Ring Dermot Goode and they were reasonably Helpful, i went with Signify at the time ,

Been 62 when my Renewal is due but i just cant afford this 20% rise from €149 to €180 a month,, i understand im been loaded , but really cant Afford to Ring Total Health care again, i have tried the Calculators here but im not great at these products , is there a Similar Signify Plan that might be cheaper considering My Predicament ,

Thanks Folks
 
You could look at Signify Care which is cheaper than Signify. It's virtually the same policy, just with a shortfall for private bed cover in a pubic hospital ( you'd be pushed to get that anyway), and a higher overnight excess in private hospitals. Laya does the comparisons for you.
 
Thats what I thought when looking at this post, but looking again the OP appears to have taken out their 1st policy at age 60 and is penalised under

Lifetime community rating (LCR)

Lifetime community rating is a system whereby the premium that individuals pay for health insurance rises with the age they enter the private health insurance market, but does not vary in relation to their current age.
www.hia.ie
 
Try to identify what cover you need as a priority and then find a plan that delivers that cover within your budget? It's difficult but not impossible. The Dermot Goode clips here are useful for identifying good value plans in the three general categories of "basic", "mid-range" and "gold plated".

Health Insurance - Podcasts worth a listen for renewals from October, 2023 and December, 2024 by Dermot Goode, totalhealthcover.ie

Renewing your health insurance for the year 2025 - Dermot Goode speaking with Claire Byrne, Monday, 6/1/'25 Advice when renewing your health insurance - Dermot Goode speaking to Anton Savage, Pat Kenny Show, Friday, 13/12/'24 Health insurance renewals - is there any value out there - Dermot...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
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Sorry folks i left the most important part out yes i took it out when i was 59 so i have a 24 year 48% loading and now have 8 years to go with tis out of 10 , as far as i know,
 
We were on Signify last year and have switched to Signify Care this year as it came in near enough the same price as what we were paying last year for the Signify.
 
Persia said:
Another way, perhaps, of looking at it, is you have avoided 24 (likely) unnecessary years of premiums!
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Yes but the logic of it is that you should have been saving the money in an investment fund rather than in health insurance, then the fund would be your health insurance and you don't need to get health insurance now, after all the public system is still there aswell
 
That was always my logic on it in the past - self insurance. My wife works in the HSE and is of the very firm view that you pay for health insurance not to insure against a big bill, but to get access quickly when you're ill, particularly if you're seriously ill but not of the A&E variety. Our premium for 2 adults and 2 kids is now €5500 which absolutely kills me when our only requirement is to visit the GP 2-3 times a year between all of us.
 
I was critically ill last year. Admitted through A&E and received first class treatment. I have an expensive Health insurance plan but did not need it once during a 14 day stay, covered multiple radiology, MRIs etc.

Made me think that if you can afford to pay for the odd specialist or Doctor then is there a need for private health insurance?
 
I guess the insurance is to cover access to specialists and quicker treatment for chronic conditions where the public system might mean a long wait.
And of course private rooms and maybe better food in a hospital stay?

I’m not convinced about the better food but I know from visiting an elderly relative in Blackrock hospital the menus were attractive, food wasn’t bad, and he was there for 12 weeks and the bill, for the insurance company, was over €80k.
 
Annieindublin said:
he was there for 12 weeks and the bill, for the insurance company, was over €80k.
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Which makes me wonder at what point it is reasonably safe to ‘self insure’ for health? Let’s say you have your forever house paid off, pensions filled, stable jobs and €500k in savings, are there many medical situations you would not be able to cover? What about €1m? Etc
 
Zenith63 said:
My wife works in the HSE and is of the very firm view that you pay for health insurance not to insure against a big bill, but to get access quickly when you're ill, particularly if you're seriously ill but not of the A&E variety.
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So are you saying health insurance still allows you access ahead of paying with cash. If you are prepared to stump up the money straight away , are you saying they still prioritise insured people even though they have to wait longer for the insurer to pay out. That doesn't make sense?
 
ClubMan said:
Can't see where @Zenith63 said or even suggested that.
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If you read his post he said he had the same opinion regarding having a health fund built up rather than health insurance. However his wife in hse wanted health insurance in order to get access quickly. So the logical follow onto that is does health insurance allow you jump to top of queue even ahead of having cash up front?
 
With insurance you don’t have to worry. I doubt if the consultant cares whether you get a refund or not. They take a cheque up front in my experience for visits. Procedures might be different, they won’t want to admit you without being guaranteed payment so maybe you’d have to prove funds, pay in advance?

If you are admitted for a procedure you are aware when you sign all the forms that it might not go according to plan so if you ended up ICU what started off as couple of days and a few thousand in Beacon could quickly get a lot higher.
 
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