Hi cork,
Both of these plans are specifically meant to cover public hospital cover only, semi-private room fully covered.
Both plans have partial cover for private hospitals but with very high shortfalls per night.
The extras on Essential Starter are as follows;
1. Heart surgery fully covered in Mater Private and Beacon hospital - both hi-tech hospitals.
2. 7euro per night extra convalesence cover.
3. Identical very limited outpatient cover on both plans.
4. Slightly better scan + x-ray cover on Essential Starter.
5. Full overseas cover, if treatment is not available in Ireland or if you just want to have surgery abroad.(subject to pre-approval)
6. Reduction for multi-trip travel insurance because Essential Starter has full overseas cover.
7. Note; Essential Secure has no overseas cover so if you travel abroad on holiday, you would need a stand alone travel insurance policy.
Also, if you already have a multi-trip travel policy with a price reduction because of your current health insurance cover, it would become
void if you switched to Essential Secure. Its not a major problem, just something to be aware of if travelling abroad.
www.hia.ie/ci/comparison/step3?299&43/
Regards, Snowyb