Health Insurance

Approximately 50% of the adult population in Ireland have private health insurance.

While it’s hard to put a price on your health, health insurance is one of the most expensive insurance policies you could have.

Premiums have been rising strongly every year for the past number of years. This is mainly because of medical costs inflation, which is estimated to run at about 10% a year, sometimes more.

However, in most cases you can save money on your health insurance premiums by switching providers.

Switching

There are three health insurance providers on the market, which is a considerably improvement on the situation many years ago when there was only VHI.

As well as VHI, there is Quinn Healthcare and Aviva Health.

More consumers are switching service providers more often, but only tiny numbers switch health insurers each year, according to the Health Insurance Authority, which regulates the private health insurance market.

At least part of the reason for this is that there are over 200 possible choices and combinations of health insurance plans, making it very difficult to compare products at a glance.

Nonetheless, people are now more actively questioning their cover because it has become so expensive, and as a result, switching activity is on the increase.

There are a number of ways you can compare insurance plans.

The Health Insurance Authority www.hia.ie compares all plans for the three Healthcare providers and also has a useful guide to choosing the right health insurance. 

Both Quinn Healthcare and Hibernian Health’s websites have a facility for comparing similar plans with their own plan side-by-side at a glance. VHI’s website only provides information on its own products.

All websites can provide quick quotes online.

There are also a (very) small number of insurance brokers who specialise in health insurance. One example is PHI Consulting, which runs the website www.healthinsurancesavings.ie, and can provide either a free or fee-based service to help you find the best value and most suitable cover.

Besides switching, there are a number of other useful ways to save on your health insurance.

*Split up family policies. Don’t buy the same expensive plan for adults as for children as they won’t need anywhere near the same amount of cover.
*Avail of student rates. Even if you are a student, these rates won’t automatically apply – you have to claim them.
*Take an excess for a lower premium
*Match your cover to your life stage
*Put the whole family on the cheaper company plan, not just you.
*Keep receipts for all medical expenses. Many people throw them away.
*If you need to save money, reduce your cover rather than cancel.
*Be sensible with accomodation cover. Sometimes you don’t need a private room.
*Claim all tax relief, both in medical expenses and in insuranced premiums.
*Check with insurers that any MRI, CT and PET scans are being done in centres approved by your insurer. If they are not, your insurance may not cover it.
*Negotiate with consultants. For example, if you are doing the exact same treatment a number of times in succession, consultants may be willing after the first consultation to reduce the price of subsequent treatments.
*Don’t use a private hospital for maternity, as it can be very expensive and your insurance will likely not cover everything.

Tips courtesy of Dermot Goode of healthinsurancesavings.ie

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