Health Insurance One adult, two kids, anything better than VHI?

W

world201812

Registered User
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Hi all,

Family of three have been covered, one adult and two under-6’s with VHI.

The children automatically added when they were born, I think we had a free year or something when they were born however things have escalated somewhat in terms of what we are paying for the VHI package annually, a quick glance at the monthly direct debit shows 157 euro or € 1,894.20. Is this a lot for one adult and two kids?

Per anumm for the three of us, and presume this is with tax rebate at source as its paid through public service payroll.


I’ve logged in to VHI online and details are follows, and I find it bizarre children on different schemes, and child 2 appears to have different and better package than the other child, and the adult.


Adult 1 on Enhanced Care 150 day-to-day. €1,157.28

Child 1 on Enhanced Care 150 day-to-day. €288.11

Child 2 on Company Plan Extra Level 1. €448.81

To add to all this, having gone through our medical receipts submitted to VHI last year, the amounts returned are derisory, 25 euro of 100 for OT visits for example. And not unlimited either.

A quick calculation shows we spent 2,500 on Medical last year, and just 500 euro back from VHI. It appears we are paying 1,920 for this, after tax rebate.

My question is are there any better packages out there? Any tips? Surely child 2 at three years of age doesn’t need to be on such a good scheme?

The cost of the likes of physio have rocketed per visit in recent years, but the fee reimbursable of 25 has not risen, and to add, the benefits of VHI seem non-existent over the last two years during covid, any time we’ve been in hospital with kids etc, told private priority doesn’t exist due to ‘Covid’.

Seems like benefits back are not worth it with VHI, any alternates to above? Thanks.
 
world201812 said:
the benefits of VHI seem non-existent over the last two years during covid, any time we’ve been in hospital with kids etc, told private priority doesn’t exist due to ‘Covid’.
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That sounds very like something that would apply regardless of who you're insured with and not something specific to VHI. Unless it's a case of not having cover for the relevant "priority" (not really sure what exactly that means in this context though).

A quick calculation shows we spent 2,500 on Medical last year, and just 500 euro back from VHI. It appears we are paying 1,920 for this, after tax rebate
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That doesn't seem to add up.
If your unreimbursed expenses are €2k then surely you're entitled to €400 tax back so the net cost to you after insurance payments and tax relief should be €1,600?
 
ClubMan said:
That doesn't seem to add up.
If your unreimbursed expenses are €2k then surely you're entitled to €400 tax back so the net cost to you after insurance payments and tax relief should be €1,600?
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Only if they paid enough tax to avail of the full tax relief.
 
Shirazman and Clumban, many thanks for your quick response.
Yes, you are correct, the tax rebate part has yet to be applied, so 1600 could be what we get back.
On the 'priority' thing, best example of this was maternity cover in recent years, you pay for VHI and get the same treatment in hospital in terms of accomadation, we'll give you a private room, or semi-private 'if we have one'.
Are there any packages that in terms of day to day expenses offer 75% of costs for say physio, as opposed to 25 euro when the appointment costs 100%.
Perhaps, the package we are on is in fact very good, and I have little to be reviewing.
 
world201812 said:
we'll give you a private room, or semi-private 'if we have one'.
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As far as I know that's the same for all insurers unless you happen to end up in a fully private hospital which only has private/semi-private accommodation.
world201812 said:
Are there any packages that in terms of day to day expenses offer 75% of costs for say physio, as opposed to 25 euro when the appointment costs 100%.
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Have a look at the HIA site.

Health Insurance Authority

www.hia.ie
 
Hi World,

Since you are unhappy with your day to day cover you might be better off upgrading to a corporate plan. Your premium would increase but the extra might pay off greatly in returns as say you are spending €2500 a year, it will depend on what you services you are spending that on. Apart from certain things like physio, corporate plans tend to cover 50% on most things meaning possibly €1250 back for you instead of €500.

Plans to look at with VHI are PMI 52 10 (VHI's cheapest corporate plan at the adult rate), PMI 07 10, Company plan plus level 1.3. Laya inspire or inspire plus. Irish life 4d health 2.

All these plans cover at least 50% GP and consultant fees which have been increasing with recent shortages and inflation.

In terms of physio the best cover would be Laya, some plans give 50% back instead of a fixed sum. But all plans have max limits on physiotherapy. However if you need to attend a lot you may be better of seeing a physical therapist (officially registered as such). They are usually covered with unlimited claims @ 50% (subject to overall yearly limit)

Other than that if physio is a big claim, some plans offer packages. Irish life have back up where you pay only €50 to get a whole series of sessions. However it has to be related to a new neck or back pain issue. VHI plan 46 10 has a fairly unknown Physio check programme. You pay €50 for the first consultation and if needed get 5 sessions fully covered with the physio company in Dundrum. It doesn't count towards your annual maximum of €3200 on this plan. This is on top of your €30 x7 visits you get on day to day cover. This plan also provides 75% cover for gp and consultant fees. Of course this higher level of cover means it's more expensive than all the other plans I've listed above but if you claim often it can work out as very beneficial.

Kids plans follow a different hierarchy of pricing to adults so you'll have to use the HIA website to see which corporate plans are cheapest for kids.
 
Ndiddy said:
do small kids even need insurance?
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Consultant warns of impact on children as over 100,000 on waiting lists

Gabrielle Colleran said one pre-teen was told they could not get an appointment until 2035
www.irishtimes.com

It may not seem like it as they have free gp cover but if they need any of the more common surgeries or specialist care for kids, public waiting lists have been large and long in recent times. It used to be the case that people would question the need as there are no private dedicated children hospitals in Ireland. However private hospitals have always been able to take in kids for necessary surgery and more recently new private clinics specialising in kids have increased in supply with Beacon for kids (from 6 months) and the VHI Paediatric clinic (from birth).

In fact, demand is so strong for private services in general and Covid has reduced capacity in clinics, which means even privately now there is often a waiting list of a few weeks or more.
 
I used to believe (and suggest) that small kids didn't need private health insurance but it seems like times change (and maybe first hand experience opens one's eyes! ) and these days it looks like if (as is often the case) the additional cost is marginal in the greater scheme of things then it's probably as well to have them on some sort of cover.

BTW thanks to @Starrynights for yet another informative post earlier - it also helped me in my shopping around and making sense of the quagmire of policies on the market!
 
world201812 said:
Starrynights,
Many thanks for your post, and the extensive information in it. I will review today.
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No problem at all, happy to help if I can
 
Hi all, Update on this to further confuse things.
One of our children has received a medical card due to a condition, which is great.
My understanding is they will get GP free of charge and what is the situation with public hospital A&E visits?
Again, how does a medical card for the child impact on health insurance options for the three of us?
 
Hospital A&E charge of €100 is fully covered by the medical card. As is the cost of a hospital stay which is €80 per night (capped at the cost of the 10 nights).
This means you have to think a little more carefully about what you are actually getting out of your insurance plan for your kids. Eg. Day to day cover might not be needed as much now as GP and A&E fees are already covered. Unless you need significant other day to day cover such as on going physio, private outpatient consultants etc. Public hospitals fees are now covered by the medical card therefore insurance not needed for it.
So really what's left is access to private hospitals for elective care. Waiting lists can be large and long for common surgeries for children in public hospitals. Also VHI provide their 360/swiftcare clinics to kids over 12 months for urgent care and they have their Paediatric clinic.
 
Check out Simply Connect with Laya Healthcare for c.€1200. On this policy you get back 50% of Consultants'/GP/Physio etc. There's a €1 excess on this plan which is nothing.
Also check with them about their child cover to see if they're still doing where you pay for one child and the rest are free.
Good luck
 
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