VHI & PRSI Entitlements for NI Dentists

I have booked a dental appointment in Northern Ireland & I know I will require extensive work. I have VHI Dental cover & I qualify for PRSI. Does anybody know if I can use the VHI Dental cover & PRSI & claim tax relief if I go up north? I am trying to find the least costly option.

Hey,

I'm looking into the same thing myself.

It seems that the VHI will only cover emergency / temporary treatment for pain relief outside of Ireland so fillings / crowns / root canal etc are not covered in NI.

With regards to the tax relief I am not sure if they will cover you outside of the Republic but I do know that in most cases VHI will cover more than your PRSI anyway (also not sure if you can combine the two).

In my case it is not worth going up North to have the treatment done as root canal costs €600 down here & VHI will cover 70%; leaving me with a bill of €180. I've been advised that the cost of this treatment in Newry ranges from £250-300.

I would advise having a check up down here first to find out what needs doing and how much it will cost and then compare the total less VHI to the full cost in Northern Ireland.

Hope this helps!

CariBean said:

Hey,
It seems that the VHI will only cover emergency / temporary treatment for pain relief outside of Ireland so fillings / crowns / root canal etc are not covered in NI.

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OMG.... Hubby and I are going up North next week to have dental work done. I rang VHI before I made the appointment and they confirmed that they cover the North in the same way as the South with our Dental Plan Cover.....Must ring them again.....I hope you are wrong.

depends on your policy with vhi. if you are looking to claim back through the rsi system you can do this - under EU Reg 1408/71. This is the law governing patient mobility and under this reg. citizens have the right to go to another eu member state and receive treatment and be reimbursed in accordance with the level of provisions in national law. For example, if you go to the uk for a check-up and get work done - you can claim back from the dsfa the costs of the check up, cleaning and in relation to the work done - if that treatment is fully covered down here under prsi then they have to reimburse you for this treatment. Also of note is that you dont need prior authorisation from the health insurer to avail of your rights under patient mobility. The healthcare must be ambulatory ie. outpatient and not an inpatient in a hospital. The dsfa's website gives details of the right to travel under the treatment benefit scheme.