VHI Vhi swiftcare

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dishwasher

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So according to the Indo Vhi has bought out the minority shareholder in swiftcare clinics and then restricted access only to its members.

So now the next time my son breaks his finger playing GAA, I've to go to an over crowded A&E and wait for hours and pay €125 instead of paying about the same to swiftcare.

This announcement comes at the same time as the HSE are trying to keep hospitals for the really sick or injured and are backed up with people of trolleys, this state owned private health insurer is forcing people who happily pay out of their own pocket to get their minor injuries treated privately into a public overcrowded A&E.


It just appears to me as a cynical move by vhi to grow their health insurance business.
As why else would a private minor injury clinic business announce a decision that from now on it will turn away paying customers.

And Indo says the Competion authority have approved it.

Anyone know any more about this?
 
Read the same on their website yesterday when I was booking to sort out an ingrown toenail. This is going to happen in September. They want to restrict to VHI customers only to maintain the max 1 hour waiting time according to their website. I see the waiting time for each clinic is now live on their website.

With people switching health insurers regularly are they trying to generate loyalty for VHI, or are they trying to get the other insurers to do deals with them? When we were with VHI we got 2 free visits per year to their swiftcare clinic. But I was very happy to pay the money to swiftcare now that we are with Laya.

When my kid twisted her ankle after slipping on the stairs I took her there. After a few days of limping I figured I better get it x-rayed, so I was at swiftcare at 8 am. By 10 am I had her back in school, on crutches (not broken, but torn ligaments), got the school secretary to sort out the insurance form and 4 days later the school insurance had paid back the full €225 for visit, X-ray and crutches. Going to A&E, I would have lost a full days work, sitting and waiting because she was not an urgent case.

Are there other alternatives to VHI swiftcare?
 
I actually see nothing wrong with this .. VHI is prioritising/looking after its own customers first.

It's not for them to prop up the system.

With the way the public system is screwing the private insurers I think more providers will go down this route.
 
Totally agree clamball.

The alternatives in Dublin as far as I can see are Beacon and Mater emergency departments but they don't treat children. And the out of hours GP service but they don't offer x-rays etc.

I just don't believe it's about waiting times - I've been twice in the last year on Saturday afternoons was seen straight away the first time and waited about 20mins the second. Never heard any of complaints of people having to wait - the opposite in fact - have only heard people recommending them.

It must be about getting people to switch health insurance to them and that's what I think is so unfair to normal users of their service.
I can't switch health insurance to them as am in a company scheme.

I do think it's wrong as Vhi is a state owned company and they have about half of all health insurance so it looks like they are abusing their dominant position. As any normal owner of a private clinic would be looking to maximise their customer base not restrict it.
 
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