Same as Chris. What it must be like to have a Medical card….

If u have one your so poor it’s bad

Can’t afford it anymore

I took myself off it, I kept my partner and child on it. Its a crazy expense!

Wait till the universal health insurance comes in – 2 years ago it was costing a Dutch family of four 2500 euros (relevent because Reilly is basing it on the Dutch model). The promise of free GP care is a con, just like everything else they promised.

@Richie, sure aren’t Dublin Bus and Irish Rail spouting the same line..?decreased demand = Higher fares :-/

That makes a bit more sense though as Dublin Bus still need to run the same amount of buses for less people so their costs stay the same. On the other hand VHI have less demand and so surely have less claims to pay out?

I’ve heard about them. Worth researching into .

I’ve been using HSF for a few years, couldn’t recommend them enough. Have never had any problems with them, and they pay promptly.
Having said that, I’ve never had normal health insurance, could never quite afford it so I can’t really say if it’s better or worse.
One thing HSF doesn’t cover is maternity care, although they do pay out a small grant on birth / adoption. I had to go public to have my little fella but the staff could not have taken better care of us, so no need to be afraid of the “public” health service!

Tried a quote with major pre-existing condition?!

Anthony, we’ve got Primary Cover Family Plan 4550 which is €45.50 per month I think. It’s a basic package, similar to VHI Health Steps which we used to have, but there are better plans available.

Frances, we *both* have preexisting conditions (who doesn’t after 40??). No problem but these conditions not covered for the first few years (either 3 or 5, can’t remember). I’d imagine that’s par for the course with any health insurance policy?

had it myself for a few years with the wife when i submitted claims was told i had not spent enough to recoup my expenses so told them to take a jump. with hospital Saturday fund now excellent service.

Sounds like a good idea.

For one, the current legislation doesn’t allow discounts, or financial penalties, due to health status so it would need a change in the law to facilitate it.

As well as that, a no claims bonus would be seen by some as an incentive not to get treatment. There’s already evidence that people without health insurance put off going to the GP because of the cost, which can lead to worse problems down the road. It definitely wouldn’t be a good idea to give people a financial reward for not going to hospital.

@Damocles

Yeah but then you’d be going down the road of having an annual MOT, and doctors would be checking your runners for thread dept, your arse for toxic emmissions, and you could end up paying a higher premium on pavement tax if you were a fat git so probably not a good idea ;)

That legislation forces young and healthy people to pay the healcare costs of the unhealthy and elderly.

Sort of makes it worth your while to not have health insurance until you get old.

In Australia they have a system in place to penalise people who join the health insurance market late in their lives. Seems much fairer to me. Someone paying their whole life pays less than someone who joins at the age of 70.

@ Jimbo

The Irish health insurance system has many similarities to the Australian system, and that mechanism, called lifetime community rating, is something that’s been looked at for a number of years. It keeps getting put back though, as each successive Minister for Health comes up with a new plan that will definitely, definitely fix the health insurance market this time.

Thing is though, I don’t think many people are waiting until 70 to join. Anyone over 55 already has longer waiting periods to serve, with those over 65 having to wait 2 years for cover for anything other than an accident. And up to a few years ago, the majority of new customers taking out cover were around the 30/35 age bracket.

@Brian O’Sullivan

Well, when you put it like that … ’twas just a passing thought, maybe I should have let it keep passing.

Use of the age 70 was just an extreme example to make the point. Nothing I said suggested that there are lots of people starting out with their health insurance at the age of 70.

I have experience of both systems. The main difference was that there were services available for me to actually use the health insurance in Australia. I had the same surgery there as I did here. Over there I got it done at a time of my choice, in a private hospital. I had a private room, with its own bathroom, tv and phone. And the place was actually clean.

Also, despite the Austrlalian hospital also being a catholic hospital, I didn’t have superstitious people coming into my room and disturbing me with crackers they literally belive to be the flesh of a deity.

Same here & even if I could I wouldn’t on principle.

On what principle Justin??

I can afford health insurance and I do have it – I think it would be grossly unfair of me to clog up the public system and force people who can’t afford insurance to wait longer because I am not paying ‘out of principle’.

*their

You are covered for preexisting conditions if you’ve had health insurance for 5 years.

You can’t generalize like that, I have 6 children both myself and my husband worked for everything we ever had. I was unfortunate to have to give up work in 2004 and had to cancel health insurance as it came under the category of luxury – we don’t smoke or drink and very rarely have a night out. Holidays we have never had so think twice b4 making those kind of statements

I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I’ve cut out junk food. I drive my 15 year old Micra when absolutely necessary and I bring a packed lunch to work (and I walk to work). Cancelled Sky the same day I cancelled my health insurance, years ago. In the same job for 13 years, now making minimum wage when I was making about 30-40% more than that for years.

Get off your high horse. Some people actually can’t afford health insurance. You obviously can. Happy days for you and stop judging those you don’t know.

Esther & Jacqui – maybe you should try reading the whole post before replying.

I’m lucky enough to have it for now but I had to give it up I’m sure I’d manage to sleep just fine.

You can attend VHI SwiftCare for a reduced fee if you suffer relatively minor physical injuries such as broken bones. It still works out quite expensive if you need X-rays but you don’t have to wait around in A&E.

If you get cancer, you will be treated immediately by the public healthcare system, but private health insurance opens up your options a little bit. For example, you can only get the cold cap (stops you from losing your hair during chemotherapy) on private health.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/hospital_services/hospital_charges.html

Charges for hospital services
•Information
•Rules

Information

Everyone, regardless of nationality, who is accepted by the Health Service Executive (HSE) as being ordinarily resident in Ireland is entitled to free maintenance and treatment in public beds in HSE (Health Service Executive) hospitals and voluntary hospitals. Certain visitors to Ireland are also eligible, for example, people covered under EU Regulations.

You may have to pay some hospital charges, unless you have a medical card or belong to certain other groups listed below. There are daily in-patient charges and some long-term stay charges.

The HSE has the discretion to reduce or waive the charges entirely in cases of hardship.

Rules

Charges for accident and emergency/casualty services in public hospitals

If you go to the accident and emergency or casualty department of a public hospital without being referred there by your family doctor (GP), you may be charged €100 (since 1 January 2009).

There is no charge if you are referred by a GP.

The charge of €100 also does not apply to the following groups:
•Medical card holders
•People who are admitted to hospital as a result of attending the casualty department (you will then be subject to in-patient charges)
•People receiving treatment for prescribed infectious diseases
•Children up to 6 weeks of age, children suffering from prescribed diseases and disabilities and children referred for treatment from child health clinics and school health examinations
•People who are entitled to hospital services because of EU Regulations
•Women receiving maternity services.

The charge applies to the first visit in relation to an illness or accident If you have to return for further visits to an out-patient clinic in relation to the same illness or accident, you should not have to pay the charge again.

You can be referred by your family doctor to the out-patients department of a public hospital for specialist assessment by a consultant or his or her team or for diagnostic assessments (i.e., x-rays, laboratory tests, physiotherapy, etc.). If you attend this service as a public patient, you will not have to pay for this service. If you wish to attend a consultant in a private capacity, you must pay their fee.

In-patient charges in public hospitals

If you are in a public ward under the care of a consultant for treatment and you remain overnight, you are receiving in-patient services.

If you are admitted to the hospital under the care of a consultant where you do not require the use of a bed overnight and your discharge from hospital is planned, you are receiving day services.

The charge for in-patient/day services is €75 per day up to a maximum of €750 in any 12 consecutive months. The charge does not apply to the following groups:
•Medical card holders
•People receiving treatment for prescribed infectious diseases
•People who are subject to “long stay” charges
•Children up to 6 weeks of age, children suffering from prescribed diseases and disabilities and children referred for treatment from child health clinics and school board examinations
•People who are entitled to hospital services because of EU Regulations
•Women receiving maternity services.

Private patients in public or voluntary hospitals

If you are in a private bed in a public or voluntary hospital, you must pay for your maintenance at a rate set from time to time. The following charges are in addition to the public hospital in-patient charges of €75 per day up to a maximum of €750 in a any 12 consecutive months.

Maintenance rates from January 2012 are:

Hospital Category

Private

Semi-private

Day-care

HSE Regional Hospitals and Voluntary and Joint Board Teaching Hospitals

€1,046

€933

€753

HSE County Hospitals and Voluntary Non-teaching Hospitals

€819

€730

€586

HSE District Hospitals

€260

€222

€193

If you are a private patient, you must pay for the services of the consultant who is treating you. You must also pay for the services of any other consultant who is involved in caring for you (i.e., the radiation oncologist, anaesthetist, etc.)

Mental health services

You have the same entitlement to public health services for mental illness as for any other illness. You must pay for maintenance and treatment in private psychiatric hospitals. Health insurance companies sometimes treat psychiatric hospital costs differently from general hospital costs. The same rules apply to long-term institutional care for psychiatric patients as to long-term institutional care for other patients.

Mental health in-patient and out-patient services are provided free of charge to children aged under 16 years who are suffering from mental illness.

Long-stay patients

The HSE may impose hospital charges on long-stay or extended care patients (pdf), separately from the normal in-patient charges. If you have been an in-patient for more than 30 days within the previous 12 months, you will be liable for these charges. This applies to everyone, including medical card holders.

The Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations 2005 provide for different charging arrangements, depending on the level of nursing care being provided.

The maximum charge for anyone in public long-stay care is €175 per week. In addition, those in public long-stay care are divided into two groups:
•Class 1: those receiving in-patient services in premises where nursing care is provided on a 24 hour basis. Maximum weekly charge for care will be the lesser of €175.00, or their weekly income less a sum of between €33.00 and €37.99.*
•Class 2: those receiving in-patient services in premises where nursing care not provided on a 24 hour basis. Maximum weekly charge will be the lesser of €130.00, or the person’s weekly income less a sum of between €64.00 and €68.99.*

If you are in hospital for more than 30 days and a doctor certifies that you do not need medically acute care and treatment you may be charged as if you were receiving long-term residential care services.

* There is further information on these charges and the amounts that patients can retain for their own use in the HSE’s Charges for In-Patient Services National Guidelines 23 July 2011 (pdf).

Have you tried the minefield of those ‘rights’,with a chronic disease needing ongoing treatment in a specialist hospital? Good luck!

Longest journal comment ever.

I had a pacemaker fitted in 07, Broke my neck, shoulder & a bit more in a motorbike accident in 09, My wife had her gallbladder removed last year, no insurance and no real problems. Few months of a wait for the gall bladder removal. I will say the Maher appears to run much smoother than the Lourdes in drogheda, which is a disaster re waiting times for appointments

I don’t have any healthcare either. I eat a lot of nutrient dense vegetarian food, lots of raw and whole foods. I have greatly reduced my intake of toxic substances, including alcohol / tobocco. And I’ve massively reduced stress through daily meditation. I consider all of this to be my health insurance :)

That said, I fell off the bike a couple of years back and smashed my elbow pretty badly. I was curious as to how much it would cost, as I’m employed full time and don’t have a medical card. Well, I went into A&E in Galway, and after a few hours waiting (during which I enjoyed reading a good book), I was seen by a nurse, then I had an x-ray and a consultation with a doctor. Got medical advice. Got a cast, and was told I’d be seen by a consultant in Merlin park hospital the following week. When I went to see him, he examined me further and recommended that I use a sling. He removed the cast and examined swelling. he game me a little bit more medical advice on how to proceed, and after a few weeks I was fine again.

How much was all of the above? 100 euro to be exact.

If I was paying through the nose for healthcare, maybe I wouldn’t have had so much time with that book, but I doubt I’d get any better treatment.

Jim, you’ve obviously never had a condition that would benefit from alternative medicine and prefer to go the pharmaceutical route. I, for one, will do anything first BEFORE I go down the conventional pharmacy route! I have an extrememly painful condition called Trigeminal Neuralgia, and Acupuncture is one of the few things that help – the overpriced meds, made by the highly profitable drug companies,prescribed by brain washed GPs certainly don’t! So don’t knock what you don’t know!

I’d rather pay money for something that works than something that is proven to not work.

Accupuncture has been demonstrated in double blinded studies to not work any better than placebo. That trumps your anecdotal evidence I’m afraid.

Alternative medicine that has been proven to work is called .. drum roll… MEDICINE.

Jim, I totally agree with you. See my comments below. I think that including sCAM in VHI and other insurances is very wrong.

Anne, I’ve read about and studied sCAM such as Acupuncture & Homeopathy for years and they are 100% fraud. Those making money charging people for sCAM should be jailed. They are con artists. You are one of their “marks”.

As it happens my wife is on medication for Trigeminal Neuralgia and it works extremely well. Ignoring that and not reporting it to a specialist is VERY stupid. You may need a serious operation one day to prevent the pain but in the meantime there are treatments that usually work very well and have no side effects. TN can get worse untreated and even treated.

Sticking pins in you will not do ANYTHING WHATSOEVER for the pain. It’s called the placebo effect and it means you may just THINK that the pain eases when it actually doesn’t. You are wasting your money.

The reason medication can have side effects is that it does affect your body. sCAM doesn’t because it’s magic and magic doesn’t work.

“Not for much longer” = Yes, you have health insurance. “None of your business” = Don’t answer the poll.

Rob I doubt many people “don’t know” if they have health insurance or not and if you are so concerned about privacy then its very simple.. dont participate in the poll. I have noticed over the last few weeks your comments on other topics… they are usually poor attempts at being witty or controversial… NEXT

As opposed to all the other well informed, reasoned or hilarious comments?