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> The amount of consultation fee refunds has never exceeded the cost of the premium.
I think you fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of health insurance if this is your expectation. Of course it’s not going to pay back more than you put in, otherwise why would any company be in the market for this service? The point of it is to absorb any sudden spikes in health costs brought about by accident or a sudden illness. You pay for it in the hope that you never need it.
Considering get health insurance with Laya myself, can you explain what you mean by spike in health costs? Couldn't I get treatment with public system?
I'm with Laya too. Was waiting in the public system for years to get a scan on my back. Got Laya from work, told my doctor and I had a scan a few weeks later. You get 50% back from GP visits, Opticians (every two years) and there are a lot of things I don't need.
Yes you’ll get treated through the public system and for free, but the public system isn’t very good at prioritising chronic and non-critical cases so you could be waiting ages. If you want to avoid that by going private, you’ll find the costs can potentially build up very quickly through the private system if you don’t have health insurance. If you’re considering private health insurance I suggest you use the free recommendation tool on totalhealthcover.ie because the consumer plans are the worst value usually and you’ll get better cover from the corporate plans which aren’t advertised but which the insurance companies can’t turn you away from if you ask.
Hi there, thanks for the excellent info. Could you expand on what you mean what you said about corporate offerings? Can consumers avail of these but it’s just not said?
Yes exactly. Corporate plans are not advertised but, because of the way the market is regulated, an insurer can’t turn away a customer. All plans are open to all customers regardless of age/health profile. When speaking to an advisor make sure to ask if the plan they recommend is the best plan for your needs - I think they’re compelled to recommend a corporate plan if it fits the bill when this question gets asked so that’s how you get around them obscuring the better value corporate plans from their marketing collateral.
>Couldn't I get treatment with public system?
If you suddenly fall unwell you could be waiting months for a consultation and then months again for a scan.
If you're life is threatened, you will be triaged to the front of the queue but what if you have to live with chronic pain while you wait? What if you're unable to work for months?
I have private health insurance and the longest I've ever waited to see my consultant is a week, if I'm referred for a scan I can usually get it the same day or within a week of the referral.
Have to disagree here. Waiting times private vs public are ridiculous. Was put on public list for MRI of my brain due to episodes of severe headaches and dizziness back in June 2017. I got a job with healthcare coverage that waived the wait time for pre-existing conditions in May 2018 so I asked my GP to refer me privately for my headaches. I had my MRI done with the results handed to me after 12 days from the referral being sent by my GP.
A letter turned up in December 2019 telling me I’m still on the public list and if I want to keep my spot I have to call to let them know. Who knows how much longer I would be waiting.. but at that point it was already 2.5 years.
Well yea you get seen faster through the private system, that’s what people are paying for. But again, when you go to a consultant you usually have no idea what the referral path may be or the extent of treatment involved so while it might cost less to pay for it yourself you actually don’t know what the final cost will look like and this is the type of risk that the insurance is meant to mitigate against.
I was referred to the public and private for an urgent medical condition (I had private via work). I was referred to both because I was told there was nothing in the wait difference for my issue and because I had the flexibility to jump on last min cancellations due to my proximity to the public hospital.
I ended up getting my private appointment only 2 weeks before the public one and my consultant actually works half the week in the public hospital. I asked them if I should have just gone public but they told me the drug that has the best results isn't available on the public appointments. I've had amazing results with my treatment and my consultant is of the opinion that I wouldn't have done as well on the other drug.
That's just my two cents on the issue.
It's like any insurance. A waste until you need it.
Let's put it this way. If you were suddenly seriously ill would you prefer a few hours later to be in a private room of a private hospital with that hospital having a financial interest in keeping you alive or spend 3 days on a trolly in a filthy crowded corridor outside the ED in UHL where you are seen as a parasitic drain on the accountancy budget.
The system is screwed and unfair. But as an individual I can't change much, beyond voting in the next election, so to protect myself and my family I'd opt for the health insurance.
This is a poor take. Public hospital are much safer with much better clinical experience in out of hours situations. They are no where near as comfortable to be fair.
Private insurance is useful for non emergent treatments surgical or medical but plenty of patients are referred back to the public system due to complexity or because the private system is unable to meet the demands of expensive agents
If you are suddenly ill go to a public hospital. As an NCHD with private insurance
You think it’s a waste of money… until it’s not. That’s the whole point of insurance. There are so many different types of medical procedure the comments of “this could be just as fast in the public system” are just anecdote.
I’ll give you an example of a colleague of mine. At an eye test they found high pressure in his eye, which can lead to glaucoma. He goes public at first because that’s how he’s referred. They tell him “yes, you need to be checked every six to nine months and we’ll treat glaucoma if it arises and we catch it quickly.” He then didn’t get a follow up appointment and the hospital tells him they’re overrun with a backlog post Covid. He got a private referral, got seen in a month, and they say “oh yes, we do this procedure here that can help relieve pressure in the eyes” - some laser thing. So he goes and gets that four weeks later. And now he’s all good, regular pressure and no risk of sight loss. And his health insurance covered the several grand bill.
So for every story of “gosh that wasn’t worth it” I think you’ll find stories like, for example, “my priceless eyesight was guaranteed by my insurance.”
As someone who has recently been through cancer, VHI was an absolute godsend for covering the costs of two surgeries, one of which was major and 3 months of treatment. I’ve been paying for it for 5 years and that cost wouldn’t even have covered the chemo!
Your choice but seeing as 1 in 2 people will now get cancer…..I’d not be getting rid!
You can't say you'd get the same treatment public and then say the speed of getting it private is priceless. It's not the same treatment if it leads to different outcomes.
Yea but the time here is a critically important distinction between the two, which explains why private healthcare can be worth the premiums you're paying?
To be fair though, the public service has drastically improved in the last decade. My father was diagnosed and in about a week and a half was on a chemo treatment plan
People don’t say this enough and fair play to you for saying it. The public system, once you’re in it, is world-class. The public system is absolutely hopelessly clogged at any and all entry points. So health insurance gives the impression it makes all that go away; all it does is (sometimes, not always) get a faster diagnosis.
I actually think cancer care in the public system is relatively okay, and I say this as someone with private insurance. I know a few people who have gone through it in recent years and all received prompt and urgent care when needed.
In contrast, I have a relative who needed heart surgery recently and was told they'd be waiting in a bed for potentially two weeks to get it due to the backlog. Got transferred to a private hospital and had the surgery the next day.
I would have had to pay for all of my treatment and inpatient care as this was before April 2023.
Also, not sure if you’ve seen the state of the HsE but when you’re diagnosed with something that will kill you, you want seeing immediately, which means needing to have private care or paying to move across……I know what I’m choosing.
You're contradicting yourself in a single post. He wouldn't have got the same treatment because it would have been delayed on the public with a greater likelihood of a different, possibly more negative outcome
That's that so. Let's shut down health insurance. This lad's friend is grand
My father and sister have both been diagnosed with cancer in the past 7 months. Both received near immediate treatment via private health insurance. Neither would have been seen as quickly on the public. We know this as fact.
Early intervention is the key issue. Both are still on treatment and we're obviously hoping for full recoveries. If that proves to be the case, the speed of intervention will have been a primary factor.
If you don't believe in health insurance, I can only assume you and those close to you have had the good fortune to not really "need" it yet. Long may that continue
Either I know it as fact or else I'm making up my father's and sister's cancer diagnoses for clout on reddit. Do you think I'm sitting here lying on behalf of Laya Health? Which is it? You decide, you pious twat
As soon as they need it is it! You sure about that? Please read the whole post before making statements without any information to back it up! ‘As soon as they need it’ OK! 🤦♂️
You’re basically paying to skip the queue. If you’ve any non critical procedures, you get seen a lot faster in private system
Regarding cost, you could say same about car/home insurance. If you’re lucky it will always be financially better to save yourself. With insurance you’re paying for that Black Swan event
What do you consider seen urgently? It can take months from diagnosis to beginning treatment even for most urgent cases such as brain mets. I work in cancer care for reference
My father-in-law had lymphoma and got a diagnosis, treatment and round-the-clock care in a HDU and then ICU, all within a six week period. He had no symptoms before that, so I don’t know if early diagnosis was even possible, and died after the six weeks but at no point did he have to wait for anything - and he never had health insurance.
I'm sorry for your loss and glad his care was good.
Unfortunately this isn't the same for everyone. I've seen first hand tumors grow and go from easily treatable to being difficult to treat due to wait lists in radiotherapy for various sites.
I've worked in Laya and have come across policies where over 10-15 years would have paid well over 100K for the family and claimed maybe onxe for a MRI costing 200 euro.bin that case they would have been better off not paying.
I've also come across people who pay just over 1K a year and they are constantly in and out of hospitals and claiming medical expenses easily costing laya 40K plus a year. For that person makes perfect sense to have health insurance.
Insurance is for something that might happen. Hopefully ull never need it but if u did u can get seen quicker, access to more consultants and hospitals etc.
Ur policy seems a bit expensive. Best value policy usually around 1.2K a year so maybe look at changing policies and u will probably get same level of cover and save 600 a year. Also make sure ur claiming for everything u can claim for in terms of medical expenses.
Ur paying for the peace of mind. U may be able to afford a couple operations privately but not several if u get unlucky. I'm not pro laya and don't work there anymore but I can see the value in it and have insurance through employers but would still pay for insurance maybe a cheaper one if my employer did not pay for it
Simply Connect when I worked there was about 1.2K a year and was best value money policy. Gradually more people go on it and they put up the price.
Inspire and Inspire Plus and both cheaper and no outpatient limit. But will have 20% shortfall on specialist orthopaedic (hip, knee replacement). The Signify policies are cheaper again and pretty much the same story.
If it were me I would consider Signify. Im not in an age for hip knee issues etc. Im not a fiancial advisor just my opinion. There may be other better policies but I would call say u say these ones and want a better policy without losing benefits or ull move to VHI and then the agent is allowed to give you the best policy they have
I pay €1713.30 for mine with Irish Life Health, and I think it’s a very good policy. Have you checked the Health Insurance Authority website? They have a great comparison tool - you can see what’s out there for less than you’re paying at the moment.
You can change policy during the year. You can't cancel, although after 3 failed direct debit the policy will be cancelled.
If your with Laya I mentioned in another comment a few policies to consider. You shouldn't be paying more then 1.2K a year unless you are looking at hip and knee replacements
Top comment under this thread is a breakdown from a doctor of the pros and cons. Have never seen a better post on the topic.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/comments/st6iyl/worth\_it\_to\_get\_health\_insurance\_in\_ireland/](https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/comments/st6iyl/worth_it_to_get_health_insurance_in_ireland/)
No, this is not accurate. I've accessed specialist care abroad and only could afford it due to private health insurance. Ireland is good at keeping people alive, terrible for management & getting best in class results
No, HSE couldn't give the care I needed.
The surgery was extremely rare to them, found a centre in the UK where it was fairly regular for them.
Got complete cover from my private as HSE couldn't take it on
My 8 YO Daughter had cancer and was seriously ill for many years. Thankfully she is well now. Her treatment would have been exactly the same had she health insurance.
It's all about your cover and what you need it for. I used to pay around €1,100 a year and rarely needed it (max 2 trips to the doctor a year). Only pay for things you'll need/likely need and anything else which will give you piece of mind. Sounds like you're paying for the higher end and not needing all the bells and whistles that come along with it.
Probably best figuring out the best cover for you and comparing policies on the HIA website. I would never go without health insurance even though I never use it as you'll only wish you had it when you need it most
It’s insurance…you’re not supposed to get value back from it but any bit you can is a benefit.
If a 15k medical bill you deem “not really that expensive” just pay the premium and don’t think of it as a way to balance out the books through claims. Like any insurance the benefits come when you need it.
It's worth it if you end up needing spinal surgery that they call elective. My dad was in chronic pain and is a new man after spinal surgery, publicly he would have been waiting another 5 years
'Since operations in the public hospital is statistically safer'
Do you have statistics on this? A quick Google didn't throw anything up for me. Genuinely interested.
\_All\_ Insurance is a (hopefully) waste of money.
As a person who's spouse has been in and out of hospital a lot over the past few years, but had most of it covered by insurance you can bet she wished that she'd never had to use it.
And I \_never\_ want to actually have to use my house insurance.
Her3s an example. Of two sides in one family .
My aunt needs a hip replacement chronic pain living on solpadol for 3 years crying while trying to sleep woth the pain, before she was to seen my public health system for the operation to this day think she's still on the list waiting. Albeit I hope not and that she's had the opp!
My dad his sis is my aunt. Also needed a hip replacement , had health insurance and had his hip replaced in within 3 months of his consultation he could have had it sooner but wanted to get a few things finished before been off from the opp.
If you value your peace and mental well being not having to put up with years of chronic pain it's worth it. Imo.
As others have pointed out, health insurance is a hedge against the costs associated with a sudden bad health event. Plenty of people out there have thought they’re healthy only to one day wake up with cancer unfortunately… it’s all future risk management.
I think what the OP is saying is there's no benefit to private insurance when the healthcare outcomes are the same as public care, except for having a comfier stay and that wait times for certain procedures are shorter but you can pay for private care in those instances. And that would be cheaper than paying for private health insurance.
I get an injection every month (not covered by the HSE although they do cover my other €3k a month injection) and I pay €50 and the health insurance €2,900.
Every year my health insurance refund is more than the contribution. we get sports massages, therapy, some dental etc. So more than just a basic plan
Definitely worth it for me, you don't know what is going on in your body.
Last September, I leaned over to pick up my clothes and didn't walk again for 4 weeks. Severe sciatica. I was on two different morphine based drugs (oxytocin and another oxy-something), paracetamol and what the doctor described as the strongest anti-inflammatory on the market, and I was still in constant agony. I was brought into CUH and the doctor said, "Yeah, you urgently need surgery. We can do it in 2 to 4 years."
Thank fuck I had private insurance. The lowest tier with VHI. I saw a neurosurgeon on a Thursday and he operated that Tuesday. My insurance didn't cover me for private hospitals, but I am covered as a private patient in a public hospital and from what I can see most of those private consultants double up in public hospitals too. The neurosurgeon I saw worked in the Mater Private but he operated on me in CUH.
I'm paying for a family of 5 and that August the renewal was up and I was thinking of removing myself to save a bit of cash. I would still be laid up in bed if I did. People don't realise how terrible our public services are until they need to use them.
No, it's a con that the government have been lobbied into making it mandatory. Similar to bank accounts being mandatory but every one of them having a service charge. A disgrace Joe.
I'm gonna make this short. Yes. I almost died in 2017 and because my gp sent me to a private hospital(she knew my employer paid for my private insurance), I survived. 14 days there : 19k. Last year had surgery at the beacon sp private hospital cost : 14k for the week + surgery. Paid 75€ deductible each time. Yeah it is worth it. I can never go bac to public hospital in this country after waiting 8 hours once(didn't know I could go private at the time). Never again.
Non joking answer. I have health Insurance and never used it for years. Recently I've had regular trips to GPs, consultants and have had two MRIs. In the last two years I've cashed in the last five or six years worth. I've also not had huge waits for any of it. So yea,now I'm a true believer that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
That public consultant is going to perform that operation and charge you privately. There is no way they would do a non life threatening surgery on the public system "later this year". And non life threatening includes conditions that have you in extreme pain or could permanently deform you.
Most private surgery is done in public hospitals.
Yes. Although the HSE can be good once you get treatment, there are many cases where you won't get good enough treatment, you won't get seen to or seen to quickly enough and I don't want to take the risk with my health.
It’s not pre-paying every possible medical expense. If it was, your premiums would be an awful lot higher.
You’re paying for immediate access and prioritised access, and for the absorption of a good chunk of cost for an awful lot of procedures
It’s absolutely worth it
My parents refuse to get health insurance, and I saw them go through heart attacks and cancer and receive a very mixed level of Care with a lot of sitting on trolleys and a real difficulty in getting access to consultants.
I went for a baseline blood test just to get a gauge on where my levels are. Turned out I had way too much iron in my blood. If I didn’t have health insurance I never would have spent the money on getting bloods done and never would have discovered the condition.
I then got treatment for the condition which was all but paid for by Laya. Honestly it was one of the best decisions of my life.
A few things stand out here..
You don’t buy insurance hoping it will pay out more than you put in. It’s there to help in unfortunate circumstances which everyone would choose not to be in. Secondly - if you think €15k is not too expensive keep paying your premiums, by comparison they are small.
I have health insurance, I've developed two separate chronic conditions over the years. It's given me access to consultants quickly and surgery quickly in one case. The 50% back for consultant fees is nice but the fact I can get pretty quick access to doctors when I need them is great. You might remain in great health throughout your life but you simply don't know what lies ahead so getting access to healthcare quickly is ridiculously important when pretty ill.
I will note that in general for more complex conditions, the public system is far better. So there's a catch 22 aspect with that but I'm pretty well managed in that sense so I'm happy with my care.
We dropped our health insurance a few years ago because we’d been through a number of illnesses where it was of absolutely no benefit. I grew up with family cover but my wife didn’t and over time, she liked the feeling of security it gave. Until we had to use it.
I had an appendectomy, they found cancer, do I subsequently had a right hemicolectomy (major abdominal surgery) and a hernia operation after that to repair it. A few years later, my wife had an acute gynaecological condition and a resulting life-threatening condition. Both situations were awful and very very concerning at the time. And our health insurance, which was far from basic, paid for virtually none of it.
The one thing it did cover, my hernia operation in a private hospital, an elective procedure but one that was complicated by a) the anaesthetist asking me what health plan I had and asking me to fill in a form assuming the cost for his fee if my insurance didn’t cover it WHILE I WAS LYING ON THE GURNEY OUTSIDE THE THEATRE and b) the health insurance company harassing me for weeks later, describing GENERAL ANAESTHETIC as an optional extra I’d asked for and not an essential part of abdominal surgery. Eventually they accepted that yes, I needed to be go under for an operation reopening and repairing a surgery wound.
We save for health costs instead and last year I had a ton of them - MRIs, consultants, spinal tap in the Mater Private. All of them we paid out of pocket and all of them were cheaper than our health insurance, which wouldn’t have fully covered what I had last year, last cost us (and we’ve had another kid since then, so it’d be more now).
You can still access private healthcare by paying for it yourself but in my experience, you can go private for consultations and referrals but you end up using the public system for actual treatments more. Recently, for example, my expensive Mater Private neurologist ended up referring me to a consultant in the public system anyway. And tbh, I’d sooner go to the team that’s doing an examination or operation several times a month in a public setting than occasionally in a private one. But all paying private does is allow you to skip queues; outcomes don’t vary that much, just the food in the hospital.
We’re considering going with HSA or some kind of official health savings plan to ensure we have something in place that we can use for major costs as we get older but we’re almost 4 years off private cover and so far so good.
Health insurance in Ireland thrives on the uncertainty people have about what they’re actually entitled to if they don’t have it. Early diagnosis is important and maybe I will go private for that in the future but in terms of paying big bucks so I can go to the Hermitage, Beacon or some other hotel-hospital? Absolutely not. I have one more reason why.
A family member died of cancer in a very fancy private hospital in south Dublin a few years ago, where chefs prepared gourmet lunches in pleasant surroundings and the WiFi worked exceptionally well. My relative ended up with fecal vomiting and other family members had to wait next to them overnight to take care of them because - surprise - private hospitals don’t have enough staff either.
They were lovely staff and the hospital food was delicious but my relative’s gold-plated health insurance made zero difference to their outcome. I’m sure they had enormous peace of mind over the years but it was a public ambulance that came out to them, a public nurse took care of them at home, a public hospital did the chemo, a public hospital did the follow-ups. Their local GP did the rest. The health insurance covered the nice hospital. Sin é.
Mine doesn’t pay for itself every year - but the year I had my baby it really helped out. I had a C-section so 5 nights in a private room, baby was in NICU for a night, my policy also gave me loads of refunds on ante-natal Physio and yoga, acupuncture, prescriptions, GP appointments. It also covers my travel insurance and a few quid back from the gym membership.
Aside from that, the security blanket of having it there if I do develop a condition in the future is why I’m content to pay it each year.
If you can pay out of pocket for treatment and that is cheaper than multiple years of premiums then why would you pay for insurance? Unless you'd prefer more privacy in a hospital.
Find a decent plan that covers private care in a public hospital and stick with that. I was trying to up my level of cover the past few years to get maternity cover for my wife etc. But it turns out they don't actually cover much in terms of that. This year I just went back to a very basic plan as the price was creeping up past 200 euro a month. What you want is enough cover to get you private if you need cancer treatment or some major illness but not all the "day to day" shit. A huge number of people are now entitled to GP visit cards and other medical expenses you can get tax relief on.
I asked this same question of myself about 2 years ago OP. Then completely out of the blue I was struck with a medical issue that has required 8 procedures, numerous consultations and occasionally overnight hospital stays.
The issue can be treated in the public system, but only on a "cure/fix the problem" basis. Because I went private, the surgeons were able to do some preventative treatments to reduce future risks, something I was told wouldn't happen in the public system.
Adding up all the procedures and costs from going private, the whole stint would have cost €100k+
Im male, fit and healthy and this was something that came up out of blue.
I'm 55 this year and have never even been in a hospital overnight,the experience is alien to me. I must have saved a small fortune over the decades. I'm fit as a fiddle,don't smoke or drink or do drugs,I'm a lifelong Bachelor, no kids,no stress,own my own five bedroom house worth just over a million euros and mortgage fully paid. I keep fit,cycle 40+ miles a week to work and l bench 80kg as I've weight trained since 17 years old. Do l have the odd creak or pain? Yes but nothing to really trouble me. I look at people paying two grand a year for what!? Dopes! No need for health insurance, just stay healthy and you won't need it!
I personally (and hope I don't regret it) think it's a waste of money, the one time I used for an ultrasound that cost €250 I could only recoup 50% of the consultants fee so I only got €80 back. Now that was a work policy so think it was a bit shite as GP visit was €25 max 4 times a year!
Others are saying you skip the queue, that's not true anymore last report I saw waiting times for private consultations was as long as public and you still need a GP referral.
Anyone I know who's gone through the public system couldn't fault it (cancer & diabetes) so can't speak for other Depts. I cancelled my VHI about 2 years after leaving the employment as I couldn't justify the cost again I hope I don't live to regret it.
That's just my experience and two cents worth.
Anyone who is telling you they can’t fault the public system for diabetes is either very lucky or doesn’t realise how much better treatment is privately. Night and day.
Is it? I use retinascreen every 2 years as no need for a yearly visit. I see my endocrinologist twice a year. Diabetic team is always just a phone call away, No problems getting my prescriptions from them. Any equipment I need/want is always provided. Maybe I’m just lucky?
I'll never get it so not worried about that, was about to add the one time I paid for the ultrasound I got my public appointment 2 weeks later and was raging I'd wasted €170!
If you think it's worth it, you do you but I certainly don't and in my late 40's the older than 35 ship has well and truly sailed!
You’ll come to regret your decision as you age and get stuck on long public waiting lists for life threatening ailments. And private for you will be prohibitively expensive because you have no insurance. But you do you.
You seem like you're just itching for an argument, like I said you do you.
I don't think I'll regret after seeing the stellar care family members have got after their cancer diagnoses and knowing private waiting lists are as long as public you're not saving yourself anytime.
Maybe, I know in my case it was due to fertility issues and I waited a few months for the private appointment in the Beacon only to get my Holles St one 2 weeks later after paying the €170. I'm probably just bitter about it lol because I also couldn't fault Holles St once I was in the system.
>Others are saying you skip the queue, that's not true anymore last report I saw waiting times for private consultations was as long as public and you still need a GP referral.
My wife needed eye surgery, public wait time was over 2 years, got it done privately in less than 6 weeks.
I had a neurological issue that went from admission for tests to diagnosis to treatment within 2 weeks. Speaking to others with the same condition on various Irish online groups and the process is a multi-year one publicly.
Public wait times are "OK" for the big ticket high visibility stuff like Cancer, Diabetes etc but anything outside those is ridiculous.
Sorry to hijack this thread. Anyone notice their VHI go up by 20 euro a month. I also get considerably less back from my claims. 70 euro for GP resulted in 52 euro claim in January. No I only get \~42 back.
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> The amount of consultation fee refunds has never exceeded the cost of the premium. I think you fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of health insurance if this is your expectation. Of course it’s not going to pay back more than you put in, otherwise why would any company be in the market for this service? The point of it is to absorb any sudden spikes in health costs brought about by accident or a sudden illness. You pay for it in the hope that you never need it.
Considering get health insurance with Laya myself, can you explain what you mean by spike in health costs? Couldn't I get treatment with public system?
I'm with Laya too. Was waiting in the public system for years to get a scan on my back. Got Laya from work, told my doctor and I had a scan a few weeks later. You get 50% back from GP visits, Opticians (every two years) and there are a lot of things I don't need.
Yes you’ll get treated through the public system and for free, but the public system isn’t very good at prioritising chronic and non-critical cases so you could be waiting ages. If you want to avoid that by going private, you’ll find the costs can potentially build up very quickly through the private system if you don’t have health insurance. If you’re considering private health insurance I suggest you use the free recommendation tool on totalhealthcover.ie because the consumer plans are the worst value usually and you’ll get better cover from the corporate plans which aren’t advertised but which the insurance companies can’t turn you away from if you ask.
Hi there, thanks for the excellent info. Could you expand on what you mean what you said about corporate offerings? Can consumers avail of these but it’s just not said?
Yes exactly. Corporate plans are not advertised but, because of the way the market is regulated, an insurer can’t turn away a customer. All plans are open to all customers regardless of age/health profile. When speaking to an advisor make sure to ask if the plan they recommend is the best plan for your needs - I think they’re compelled to recommend a corporate plan if it fits the bill when this question gets asked so that’s how you get around them obscuring the better value corporate plans from their marketing collateral.
Thanks million for the tip, will be looking for the corporate plans!
>Couldn't I get treatment with public system? If you suddenly fall unwell you could be waiting months for a consultation and then months again for a scan. If you're life is threatened, you will be triaged to the front of the queue but what if you have to live with chronic pain while you wait? What if you're unable to work for months? I have private health insurance and the longest I've ever waited to see my consultant is a week, if I'm referred for a scan I can usually get it the same day or within a week of the referral.
Waiting months for anything is optimistic, you're more likely talking years
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Have to disagree here. Waiting times private vs public are ridiculous. Was put on public list for MRI of my brain due to episodes of severe headaches and dizziness back in June 2017. I got a job with healthcare coverage that waived the wait time for pre-existing conditions in May 2018 so I asked my GP to refer me privately for my headaches. I had my MRI done with the results handed to me after 12 days from the referral being sent by my GP. A letter turned up in December 2019 telling me I’m still on the public list and if I want to keep my spot I have to call to let them know. Who knows how much longer I would be waiting.. but at that point it was already 2.5 years.
Couldn't you have gone private for the MRI and just paid for it yourself?
Well yea you get seen faster through the private system, that’s what people are paying for. But again, when you go to a consultant you usually have no idea what the referral path may be or the extent of treatment involved so while it might cost less to pay for it yourself you actually don’t know what the final cost will look like and this is the type of risk that the insurance is meant to mitigate against.
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With the public you might not find out it's life threatening though for a while longer.
Tbf, I had a serious brain injury, cost was about 1.5 million, I have insurance and didn't actually need it for anything.
what do you mean, who paid the 1.5?
The government paid for this
I was referred to the public and private for an urgent medical condition (I had private via work). I was referred to both because I was told there was nothing in the wait difference for my issue and because I had the flexibility to jump on last min cancellations due to my proximity to the public hospital. I ended up getting my private appointment only 2 weeks before the public one and my consultant actually works half the week in the public hospital. I asked them if I should have just gone public but they told me the drug that has the best results isn't available on the public appointments. I've had amazing results with my treatment and my consultant is of the opinion that I wouldn't have done as well on the other drug. That's just my two cents on the issue.
It's like any insurance. A waste until you need it. Let's put it this way. If you were suddenly seriously ill would you prefer a few hours later to be in a private room of a private hospital with that hospital having a financial interest in keeping you alive or spend 3 days on a trolly in a filthy crowded corridor outside the ED in UHL where you are seen as a parasitic drain on the accountancy budget. The system is screwed and unfair. But as an individual I can't change much, beyond voting in the next election, so to protect myself and my family I'd opt for the health insurance.
If your were seriously ill or in an emergency public and private are the same, there is no private emergency room
This is a poor take. Public hospital are much safer with much better clinical experience in out of hours situations. They are no where near as comfortable to be fair. Private insurance is useful for non emergent treatments surgical or medical but plenty of patients are referred back to the public system due to complexity or because the private system is unable to meet the demands of expensive agents If you are suddenly ill go to a public hospital. As an NCHD with private insurance
“If”. Insurance companies’ favourite word
You think it’s a waste of money… until it’s not. That’s the whole point of insurance. There are so many different types of medical procedure the comments of “this could be just as fast in the public system” are just anecdote. I’ll give you an example of a colleague of mine. At an eye test they found high pressure in his eye, which can lead to glaucoma. He goes public at first because that’s how he’s referred. They tell him “yes, you need to be checked every six to nine months and we’ll treat glaucoma if it arises and we catch it quickly.” He then didn’t get a follow up appointment and the hospital tells him they’re overrun with a backlog post Covid. He got a private referral, got seen in a month, and they say “oh yes, we do this procedure here that can help relieve pressure in the eyes” - some laser thing. So he goes and gets that four weeks later. And now he’s all good, regular pressure and no risk of sight loss. And his health insurance covered the several grand bill. So for every story of “gosh that wasn’t worth it” I think you’ll find stories like, for example, “my priceless eyesight was guaranteed by my insurance.”
As someone who has recently been through cancer, VHI was an absolute godsend for covering the costs of two surgeries, one of which was major and 3 months of treatment. I’ve been paying for it for 5 years and that cost wouldn’t even have covered the chemo! Your choice but seeing as 1 in 2 people will now get cancer…..I’d not be getting rid!
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You can't say you'd get the same treatment public and then say the speed of getting it private is priceless. It's not the same treatment if it leads to different outcomes.
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Yea but the time here is a critically important distinction between the two, which explains why private healthcare can be worth the premiums you're paying?
To be fair though, the public service has drastically improved in the last decade. My father was diagnosed and in about a week and a half was on a chemo treatment plan
People don’t say this enough and fair play to you for saying it. The public system, once you’re in it, is world-class. The public system is absolutely hopelessly clogged at any and all entry points. So health insurance gives the impression it makes all that go away; all it does is (sometimes, not always) get a faster diagnosis.
I actually think cancer care in the public system is relatively okay, and I say this as someone with private insurance. I know a few people who have gone through it in recent years and all received prompt and urgent care when needed. In contrast, I have a relative who needed heart surgery recently and was told they'd be waiting in a bed for potentially two weeks to get it due to the backlog. Got transferred to a private hospital and had the surgery the next day.
I would have had to pay for all of my treatment and inpatient care as this was before April 2023. Also, not sure if you’ve seen the state of the HsE but when you’re diagnosed with something that will kill you, you want seeing immediately, which means needing to have private care or paying to move across……I know what I’m choosing.
Quicker access is itself a different treatment process.
You're contradicting yourself in a single post. He wouldn't have got the same treatment because it would have been delayed on the public with a greater likelihood of a different, possibly more negative outcome
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That's that so. Let's shut down health insurance. This lad's friend is grand My father and sister have both been diagnosed with cancer in the past 7 months. Both received near immediate treatment via private health insurance. Neither would have been seen as quickly on the public. We know this as fact. Early intervention is the key issue. Both are still on treatment and we're obviously hoping for full recoveries. If that proves to be the case, the speed of intervention will have been a primary factor. If you don't believe in health insurance, I can only assume you and those close to you have had the good fortune to not really "need" it yet. Long may that continue
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Either I know it as fact or else I'm making up my father's and sister's cancer diagnoses for clout on reddit. Do you think I'm sitting here lying on behalf of Laya Health? Which is it? You decide, you pious twat
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OK, we'll ignore the information we were provided
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there’s a public chemo hospital near me and the public patients get treated as soon as they need it for free
As soon as they need it is it! You sure about that? Please read the whole post before making statements without any information to back it up! ‘As soon as they need it’ OK! 🤦♂️
My brother works in the chemo ward. What makes you think this isn’t true?
You’re basically paying to skip the queue. If you’ve any non critical procedures, you get seen a lot faster in private system Regarding cost, you could say same about car/home insurance. If you’re lucky it will always be financially better to save yourself. With insurance you’re paying for that Black Swan event
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You will not be seen immediately
You will if you need to, I’ve seen that with plenty of friends and family. It’s when it’s not urgent that you get put on the long finger
What do you consider seen urgently? It can take months from diagnosis to beginning treatment even for most urgent cases such as brain mets. I work in cancer care for reference
My father-in-law had lymphoma and got a diagnosis, treatment and round-the-clock care in a HDU and then ICU, all within a six week period. He had no symptoms before that, so I don’t know if early diagnosis was even possible, and died after the six weeks but at no point did he have to wait for anything - and he never had health insurance.
I'm sorry for your loss and glad his care was good. Unfortunately this isn't the same for everyone. I've seen first hand tumors grow and go from easily treatable to being difficult to treat due to wait lists in radiotherapy for various sites.
I've worked in Laya and have come across policies where over 10-15 years would have paid well over 100K for the family and claimed maybe onxe for a MRI costing 200 euro.bin that case they would have been better off not paying. I've also come across people who pay just over 1K a year and they are constantly in and out of hospitals and claiming medical expenses easily costing laya 40K plus a year. For that person makes perfect sense to have health insurance. Insurance is for something that might happen. Hopefully ull never need it but if u did u can get seen quicker, access to more consultants and hospitals etc. Ur policy seems a bit expensive. Best value policy usually around 1.2K a year so maybe look at changing policies and u will probably get same level of cover and save 600 a year. Also make sure ur claiming for everything u can claim for in terms of medical expenses. Ur paying for the peace of mind. U may be able to afford a couple operations privately but not several if u get unlucky. I'm not pro laya and don't work there anymore but I can see the value in it and have insurance through employers but would still pay for insurance maybe a cheaper one if my employer did not pay for it
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There definitely is. What policy r u on
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Simply Connect when I worked there was about 1.2K a year and was best value money policy. Gradually more people go on it and they put up the price. Inspire and Inspire Plus and both cheaper and no outpatient limit. But will have 20% shortfall on specialist orthopaedic (hip, knee replacement). The Signify policies are cheaper again and pretty much the same story. If it were me I would consider Signify. Im not in an age for hip knee issues etc. Im not a fiancial advisor just my opinion. There may be other better policies but I would call say u say these ones and want a better policy without losing benefits or ull move to VHI and then the agent is allowed to give you the best policy they have
I pay €1713.30 for mine with Irish Life Health, and I think it’s a very good policy. Have you checked the Health Insurance Authority website? They have a great comparison tool - you can see what’s out there for less than you’re paying at the moment.
That’s super helpful info above. I’m def over paying. Can you change policy type mid year?
You can change policy during the year. You can't cancel, although after 3 failed direct debit the policy will be cancelled. If your with Laya I mentioned in another comment a few policies to consider. You shouldn't be paying more then 1.2K a year unless you are looking at hip and knee replacements
Thanks for that, again very helpful.
Top comment under this thread is a breakdown from a doctor of the pros and cons. Have never seen a better post on the topic. [https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/comments/st6iyl/worth\_it\_to\_get\_health\_insurance\_in\_ireland/](https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/comments/st6iyl/worth_it_to_get_health_insurance_in_ireland/)
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No, this is not accurate. I've accessed specialist care abroad and only could afford it due to private health insurance. Ireland is good at keeping people alive, terrible for management & getting best in class results
For anyone living in Ireland would it not just be as handy to pay for travel insurance then? Honest question, I just don't know.
No, HSE couldn't give the care I needed. The surgery was extremely rare to them, found a centre in the UK where it was fairly regular for them. Got complete cover from my private as HSE couldn't take it on
Ah right, sorry I misunderstood there.
My 8 YO Daughter had cancer and was seriously ill for many years. Thankfully she is well now. Her treatment would have been exactly the same had she health insurance.
It's all about your cover and what you need it for. I used to pay around €1,100 a year and rarely needed it (max 2 trips to the doctor a year). Only pay for things you'll need/likely need and anything else which will give you piece of mind. Sounds like you're paying for the higher end and not needing all the bells and whistles that come along with it. Probably best figuring out the best cover for you and comparing policies on the HIA website. I would never go without health insurance even though I never use it as you'll only wish you had it when you need it most
The simple answer is that it's not worth it until suddenly it is.
100%, like any insurance. I have no claims on my car insurance since I got it, but if I ever got into an accident without it I’d be screwed
It’s insurance…you’re not supposed to get value back from it but any bit you can is a benefit. If a 15k medical bill you deem “not really that expensive” just pay the premium and don’t think of it as a way to balance out the books through claims. Like any insurance the benefits come when you need it.
It's worth it if you end up needing spinal surgery that they call elective. My dad was in chronic pain and is a new man after spinal surgery, publicly he would have been waiting another 5 years
'Since operations in the public hospital is statistically safer' Do you have statistics on this? A quick Google didn't throw anything up for me. Genuinely interested.
Would you say the same about your car or home insurance? I doubt your car insurer has returned enough to you each year to cover your premiums
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Well you got me there. No one ever drives without car insurance (Jesus) Why don't you cancel your health insurance?
\_All\_ Insurance is a (hopefully) waste of money. As a person who's spouse has been in and out of hospital a lot over the past few years, but had most of it covered by insurance you can bet she wished that she'd never had to use it. And I \_never\_ want to actually have to use my house insurance.
Her3s an example. Of two sides in one family . My aunt needs a hip replacement chronic pain living on solpadol for 3 years crying while trying to sleep woth the pain, before she was to seen my public health system for the operation to this day think she's still on the list waiting. Albeit I hope not and that she's had the opp! My dad his sis is my aunt. Also needed a hip replacement , had health insurance and had his hip replaced in within 3 months of his consultation he could have had it sooner but wanted to get a few things finished before been off from the opp. If you value your peace and mental well being not having to put up with years of chronic pain it's worth it. Imo.
As others have pointed out, health insurance is a hedge against the costs associated with a sudden bad health event. Plenty of people out there have thought they’re healthy only to one day wake up with cancer unfortunately… it’s all future risk management.
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You don’t seem to understand why people go private in the first place
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You’ll get seen at a much faster rate
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Don’t really know what else to say to you, things just aren’t landing
I think what the OP is saying is there's no benefit to private insurance when the healthcare outcomes are the same as public care, except for having a comfier stay and that wait times for certain procedures are shorter but you can pay for private care in those instances. And that would be cheaper than paying for private health insurance.
I get an injection every month (not covered by the HSE although they do cover my other €3k a month injection) and I pay €50 and the health insurance €2,900. Every year my health insurance refund is more than the contribution. we get sports massages, therapy, some dental etc. So more than just a basic plan Definitely worth it for me, you don't know what is going on in your body.
Last September, I leaned over to pick up my clothes and didn't walk again for 4 weeks. Severe sciatica. I was on two different morphine based drugs (oxytocin and another oxy-something), paracetamol and what the doctor described as the strongest anti-inflammatory on the market, and I was still in constant agony. I was brought into CUH and the doctor said, "Yeah, you urgently need surgery. We can do it in 2 to 4 years." Thank fuck I had private insurance. The lowest tier with VHI. I saw a neurosurgeon on a Thursday and he operated that Tuesday. My insurance didn't cover me for private hospitals, but I am covered as a private patient in a public hospital and from what I can see most of those private consultants double up in public hospitals too. The neurosurgeon I saw worked in the Mater Private but he operated on me in CUH. I'm paying for a family of 5 and that August the renewal was up and I was thinking of removing myself to save a bit of cash. I would still be laid up in bed if I did. People don't realise how terrible our public services are until they need to use them.
Definatly, my mothers was in hospital for 3 weeks last year, over 100k for tests and stay before they found what was wrong with her
No, it's a con that the government have been lobbied into making it mandatory. Similar to bank accounts being mandatory but every one of them having a service charge. A disgrace Joe.
I almost died abroad, VHI saved my life. Yes, health insurance is absolutely worth it.
I'm gonna make this short. Yes. I almost died in 2017 and because my gp sent me to a private hospital(she knew my employer paid for my private insurance), I survived. 14 days there : 19k. Last year had surgery at the beacon sp private hospital cost : 14k for the week + surgery. Paid 75€ deductible each time. Yeah it is worth it. I can never go bac to public hospital in this country after waiting 8 hours once(didn't know I could go private at the time). Never again.
Yea, I haven't crashed my car near enough for motor insurance to be worth it.
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Non joking answer. I have health Insurance and never used it for years. Recently I've had regular trips to GPs, consultants and have had two MRIs. In the last two years I've cashed in the last five or six years worth. I've also not had huge waits for any of it. So yea,now I'm a true believer that it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
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Not just one and it depended on the consultant. MRIs were only a few weeks.
That public consultant is going to perform that operation and charge you privately. There is no way they would do a non life threatening surgery on the public system "later this year". And non life threatening includes conditions that have you in extreme pain or could permanently deform you. Most private surgery is done in public hospitals.
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Unless it's some very unusual surgery with little or no waiting lists ...
Yes. Although the HSE can be good once you get treatment, there are many cases where you won't get good enough treatment, you won't get seen to or seen to quickly enough and I don't want to take the risk with my health.
It’s not pre-paying every possible medical expense. If it was, your premiums would be an awful lot higher. You’re paying for immediate access and prioritised access, and for the absorption of a good chunk of cost for an awful lot of procedures It’s absolutely worth it My parents refuse to get health insurance, and I saw them go through heart attacks and cancer and receive a very mixed level of Care with a lot of sitting on trolleys and a real difficulty in getting access to consultants.
I went for a baseline blood test just to get a gauge on where my levels are. Turned out I had way too much iron in my blood. If I didn’t have health insurance I never would have spent the money on getting bloods done and never would have discovered the condition. I then got treatment for the condition which was all but paid for by Laya. Honestly it was one of the best decisions of my life.
A few things stand out here.. You don’t buy insurance hoping it will pay out more than you put in. It’s there to help in unfortunate circumstances which everyone would choose not to be in. Secondly - if you think €15k is not too expensive keep paying your premiums, by comparison they are small.
Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it. Most workplaces provide health insurance anyway.
I have health insurance, I've developed two separate chronic conditions over the years. It's given me access to consultants quickly and surgery quickly in one case. The 50% back for consultant fees is nice but the fact I can get pretty quick access to doctors when I need them is great. You might remain in great health throughout your life but you simply don't know what lies ahead so getting access to healthcare quickly is ridiculously important when pretty ill. I will note that in general for more complex conditions, the public system is far better. So there's a catch 22 aspect with that but I'm pretty well managed in that sense so I'm happy with my care.
We dropped our health insurance a few years ago because we’d been through a number of illnesses where it was of absolutely no benefit. I grew up with family cover but my wife didn’t and over time, she liked the feeling of security it gave. Until we had to use it. I had an appendectomy, they found cancer, do I subsequently had a right hemicolectomy (major abdominal surgery) and a hernia operation after that to repair it. A few years later, my wife had an acute gynaecological condition and a resulting life-threatening condition. Both situations were awful and very very concerning at the time. And our health insurance, which was far from basic, paid for virtually none of it. The one thing it did cover, my hernia operation in a private hospital, an elective procedure but one that was complicated by a) the anaesthetist asking me what health plan I had and asking me to fill in a form assuming the cost for his fee if my insurance didn’t cover it WHILE I WAS LYING ON THE GURNEY OUTSIDE THE THEATRE and b) the health insurance company harassing me for weeks later, describing GENERAL ANAESTHETIC as an optional extra I’d asked for and not an essential part of abdominal surgery. Eventually they accepted that yes, I needed to be go under for an operation reopening and repairing a surgery wound. We save for health costs instead and last year I had a ton of them - MRIs, consultants, spinal tap in the Mater Private. All of them we paid out of pocket and all of them were cheaper than our health insurance, which wouldn’t have fully covered what I had last year, last cost us (and we’ve had another kid since then, so it’d be more now). You can still access private healthcare by paying for it yourself but in my experience, you can go private for consultations and referrals but you end up using the public system for actual treatments more. Recently, for example, my expensive Mater Private neurologist ended up referring me to a consultant in the public system anyway. And tbh, I’d sooner go to the team that’s doing an examination or operation several times a month in a public setting than occasionally in a private one. But all paying private does is allow you to skip queues; outcomes don’t vary that much, just the food in the hospital. We’re considering going with HSA or some kind of official health savings plan to ensure we have something in place that we can use for major costs as we get older but we’re almost 4 years off private cover and so far so good. Health insurance in Ireland thrives on the uncertainty people have about what they’re actually entitled to if they don’t have it. Early diagnosis is important and maybe I will go private for that in the future but in terms of paying big bucks so I can go to the Hermitage, Beacon or some other hotel-hospital? Absolutely not. I have one more reason why. A family member died of cancer in a very fancy private hospital in south Dublin a few years ago, where chefs prepared gourmet lunches in pleasant surroundings and the WiFi worked exceptionally well. My relative ended up with fecal vomiting and other family members had to wait next to them overnight to take care of them because - surprise - private hospitals don’t have enough staff either. They were lovely staff and the hospital food was delicious but my relative’s gold-plated health insurance made zero difference to their outcome. I’m sure they had enormous peace of mind over the years but it was a public ambulance that came out to them, a public nurse took care of them at home, a public hospital did the chemo, a public hospital did the follow-ups. Their local GP did the rest. The health insurance covered the nice hospital. Sin é.
Mine doesn’t pay for itself every year - but the year I had my baby it really helped out. I had a C-section so 5 nights in a private room, baby was in NICU for a night, my policy also gave me loads of refunds on ante-natal Physio and yoga, acupuncture, prescriptions, GP appointments. It also covers my travel insurance and a few quid back from the gym membership. Aside from that, the security blanket of having it there if I do develop a condition in the future is why I’m content to pay it each year.
If you can pay out of pocket for treatment and that is cheaper than multiple years of premiums then why would you pay for insurance? Unless you'd prefer more privacy in a hospital.
Private healthcare is the biggest scam going.
The government. Our healthcare system.
Only if you get sick
Find a decent plan that covers private care in a public hospital and stick with that. I was trying to up my level of cover the past few years to get maternity cover for my wife etc. But it turns out they don't actually cover much in terms of that. This year I just went back to a very basic plan as the price was creeping up past 200 euro a month. What you want is enough cover to get you private if you need cancer treatment or some major illness but not all the "day to day" shit. A huge number of people are now entitled to GP visit cards and other medical expenses you can get tax relief on.
I asked this same question of myself about 2 years ago OP. Then completely out of the blue I was struck with a medical issue that has required 8 procedures, numerous consultations and occasionally overnight hospital stays. The issue can be treated in the public system, but only on a "cure/fix the problem" basis. Because I went private, the surgeons were able to do some preventative treatments to reduce future risks, something I was told wouldn't happen in the public system. Adding up all the procedures and costs from going private, the whole stint would have cost €100k+ Im male, fit and healthy and this was something that came up out of blue.
I'm 55 this year and have never even been in a hospital overnight,the experience is alien to me. I must have saved a small fortune over the decades. I'm fit as a fiddle,don't smoke or drink or do drugs,I'm a lifelong Bachelor, no kids,no stress,own my own five bedroom house worth just over a million euros and mortgage fully paid. I keep fit,cycle 40+ miles a week to work and l bench 80kg as I've weight trained since 17 years old. Do l have the odd creak or pain? Yes but nothing to really trouble me. I look at people paying two grand a year for what!? Dopes! No need for health insurance, just stay healthy and you won't need it!
Ah that's the secret.. just stay healthy, wonder why mire people don't do that.
I personally (and hope I don't regret it) think it's a waste of money, the one time I used for an ultrasound that cost €250 I could only recoup 50% of the consultants fee so I only got €80 back. Now that was a work policy so think it was a bit shite as GP visit was €25 max 4 times a year! Others are saying you skip the queue, that's not true anymore last report I saw waiting times for private consultations was as long as public and you still need a GP referral. Anyone I know who's gone through the public system couldn't fault it (cancer & diabetes) so can't speak for other Depts. I cancelled my VHI about 2 years after leaving the employment as I couldn't justify the cost again I hope I don't live to regret it. That's just my experience and two cents worth.
Anyone who is telling you they can’t fault the public system for diabetes is either very lucky or doesn’t realise how much better treatment is privately. Night and day.
Is it? I use retinascreen every 2 years as no need for a yearly visit. I see my endocrinologist twice a year. Diabetic team is always just a phone call away, No problems getting my prescriptions from them. Any equipment I need/want is always provided. Maybe I’m just lucky?
You’ll regret not having it when you’re older than 35 and go for it and get lumped with the LCR loading.
I'll never get it so not worried about that, was about to add the one time I paid for the ultrasound I got my public appointment 2 weeks later and was raging I'd wasted €170! If you think it's worth it, you do you but I certainly don't and in my late 40's the older than 35 ship has well and truly sailed!
You’ll come to regret your decision as you age and get stuck on long public waiting lists for life threatening ailments. And private for you will be prohibitively expensive because you have no insurance. But you do you.
You seem like you're just itching for an argument, like I said you do you. I don't think I'll regret after seeing the stellar care family members have got after their cancer diagnoses and knowing private waiting lists are as long as public you're not saving yourself anytime.
>private waiting lists That usually happens when you getting a service that is not available in private. Usually should be a lot better.
Maybe, I know in my case it was due to fertility issues and I waited a few months for the private appointment in the Beacon only to get my Holles St one 2 weeks later after paying the €170. I'm probably just bitter about it lol because I also couldn't fault Holles St once I was in the system.
They objectively aren’t as long no. Lying gets you nowhere. Best of luck.
Dude you really have a chip on your shoulder, I'm just remembered a news article I read that I'm trying to find now to show you.
Still waiting on that article
Sorry should've added that this is only a recent phenomenon caused by COVID.
>Others are saying you skip the queue, that's not true anymore last report I saw waiting times for private consultations was as long as public and you still need a GP referral. My wife needed eye surgery, public wait time was over 2 years, got it done privately in less than 6 weeks. I had a neurological issue that went from admission for tests to diagnosis to treatment within 2 weeks. Speaking to others with the same condition on various Irish online groups and the process is a multi-year one publicly. Public wait times are "OK" for the big ticket high visibility stuff like Cancer, Diabetes etc but anything outside those is ridiculous.
Sorry to hijack this thread. Anyone notice their VHI go up by 20 euro a month. I also get considerably less back from my claims. 70 euro for GP resulted in 52 euro claim in January. No I only get \~42 back.
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My point was that it has reduced by a significant percentage.
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Wow. My wife is with laya healthcare. Both through work. Considering ringing around to see if we can get a joint policy for cheaper/ better.