HEALTH INSURANCE:Trying to find the best value for money in the current health instrance market can be bad for your health
WITH NO END in sight to the price hikes which have characterised the private health insurance market over the past two years, consumers are having a hard time finding value when it comes to purchasing policies.
Unlike other forms of insurance, there are only three providers which offer comprehensive health cover in the Irish market, which means that when one increases prices, the others tend to follow.
Aviva Health recently became the latest provider to announce a price increase – from May 19th prices at the insurer will rise by 1.8 per cent on average, or €40 per family – and the expectations are that, given the levels of health inflation combined with the numbers dropping out of private health insurance, prices will continue to go up.
The inflationary pressures are easy to see when you compare prices now with just 18 months ago. In January 2009, for example, the VHI’s Plan B plan cost €828, but is now €906.99, while Quinn Healthcare’s Essential Plus was €715 a year, but has since risen to €854, meaning that the average cost of cover for a family of four is now well over €2,000 a year.
And all this on the back of the ongoing uncertainty at Quinn Healthcare. Although the insurer is promising customers that it is still very much “business as usual”, it is nonetheless looking for a buyer.
So, given the difficult environment, what can you do to keep your costs in check?
The first – and cheapest – option, is to simply cancel your private health cover, and rely instead on the public system. However, with the public health system under severe pressure due to cutbacks, rising waiting lists and the numbers of people defaulting out of private cover back into the public system, it may never have been more important to keep that policy that facilitates fast-tracked consultations and examinations.
And if you let your cover lapse for more than 13 weeks, waiting periods of between 26 weeks and 10 years will apply when you go to renew.
If you’re thinking about switching provider, you should first assess whether or not waiting periods might apply if you move health insurance providers. In general, provided that you have served your initial waiting periods with your existing provider, then you won’t be at a disadvantage when switching.
However, there are some exceptions. Firstly, if you upgrade your cover – for example by switching from VHI’s Plan B to Quinn Healthcare’s Healthmanager Gold – then a two-year waiting period on enhanced benefits under the new scheme is imposed for pre-existing conditions. If you are pregnant when making the switch, then you will have to wait a year to get access to the improved cover on offer under the new scheme. When it comes to shopping around, a useful tool is the Health Insurance Authority’s (HIA) website (hia.ie) which offers detailed comparisons of all the plans available in the market.
It is particularly helpful given how difficult it can be to compare competing products on a like for like basis and the fact that no one insurer offers cheaper options across the board.
For example, Quinn’s Essential Plus product and the VHI’s Plan B both offer fairly similar benefits, but for one adult, Quinn’s offering is significantly cheaper at just €854 compared to €906.99 a year for Plan B. However, given that children are cheaper on the VHI’s option, families with two adults plus three children can actually save by choosing the VHI.
Something else to consider is that, while the corporate plans on offer from all three insurers might give the impression that they are only suitable for those looking for health insurance as part of their company group scheme, these are in fact, by law, open to all. And, given that these plans haven’t been hit as much by the price hikes over the past two years, there are savings to be made.
Although such plans can be difficult to find on the insurance providers’ own websites, full details are available on the HIA’s website.
For example, for consumers looking for a semi-private room in a private hospital, Quinn’s Essential Plus product offers this for a premium of €854 a year. However, if you’re willing to pay an excess of between €50 – €125 for such a room, you could opt for the firm’s Company Care Choice product for just €660, or go for Company Health Plus for €690, which imposes no excess.
And, while in some regards, Essential Plus offers better benefits – for example, it contributes €4,000 towards maternity hospital costs, compared to €3,500 under the other plans – depending on your needs, the corporate plans can offer a better option. Indeed members of Company Care Choice can get €1,200 towards post-natal home nursing, which isn’t available under Essential Plus, while there is an excess of just €1 on out-patient benefits under this plan per family, compared to €440 on Essential Plus.
Similar corporate schemes are also available with both the VHI and Aviva, so don’t be put off by words such as “corporate”, “business” or “company” when shopping around for health insurance.
Another way of saving money is to consider downgrading your children’s health policies, if your entire family is on the same plan – a move which could slice hundreds off your bill. Given that all of the childrens’ hospitals in Ireland are public – and most private hospitals don’t even offer paediatric services – children don’t need cover for private hospitals. So, by switching three children from Aviva’s Level 2 Plan to the VHI’s Plan A, you could save almost €300 a year, for example.
You could also consider downgrading your policy to a cheaper alternative – hospital plans at Quinn start at just €380 a year for its Essential Starter product, for example, while plans at the VHI start at €450 and about €467 at Aviva. Although such plans also offer some level of cover in private hospitals, they have limited out-patient benefits, so be careful if this is your primary expense.
Another option is to add an excess to your policy, which should save you about 10 per cent. For example, switching from VHI’s Plan B to the excess option will save you about €83 a year, provided that you meet the first €75 of each claim yourself. However, while there are savings to be made, remember that if you are likely to claim on the policy, adding an excess can end up costing you in the end.
Health insurance: How the providers compare
SEMI-PRIVATE (PUBLIC HOSPITAL)
Plan Provider
Cost per adult (Cost per child)
Essential Starter Quinn
€380 (€170)
First Plan Starter VHI
€450 (€172)
Access Plan Level 1 Aviva
€470 (€23)
SEMI-PRIVATE (PRIVATE HOSPITAL)
Plan Provider
Cost per adult (Cost per child)
Essential Plus Quinn
€854 (€295)
Plan B VHI
€906.99 (€219.09)
Everyday Plan Level 2 Aviva
€890 (€275)
OUT-PATIENT ONLY
Plan Provider
Cost per adult (Cost per child)
Day-to-day A Aviva
€160 (€81)
Healthsteps Silver VHI
€170 (€70)
Scheme 1450 HSF
€174*
COMPANY PLANS (OPEN TO ALL)
Plan Provider
Cost per adult (Cost per child)
Company Care Choice Quinn
€660 (€230)
Business Plan Select Aviva
€663.56 (€245.29)
Company Plan VHI
€669 (€222)
Aviva prices are set to increase by €40 per family, or 1.8 per cent on average, effective May 19th
*spouse plus children under 21 included in plan
