Source
r/ireland•
TheMadSpring

Serious question. Is health insurance actually worth it?

I mean I’ve seen quotes of €750 per month (a couple in early 30s) but all I ever think is that I haven’t been to a doctor in 15 odd years & doesn’t everybody get treated anyway, albeit just much much slower? If I saved an additional €750 per month over those 15 years I’d have €135,000 to go towards medical bills.

EDIT - Just to add, I said I’ve “seen quotes of €750 per month” Most quotes for any decent level of cover are ranging from €300 per month to €1,000 per month.

Posted Jan 23, 2022, 12:59 AM UTC · edited

1664
alloutofbees•

€750 a MONTH? The average for under-65s is like €1300 a YEAR.

78
RuairiQ•

OP may be living in the US and A.

7
TheYoungWanWaterford•

Then why would they be paying in Euro?

8
Prior-Tree443•

Mine is 1460 a year. It's jumping up every year.

1
aimhighsquatlow•

750 a month cannot be right! Mines about 1300 for an individual. Per year

For me the time is a big thing as well as the security. A few years back I got my wisdom teeth out and only had to wait a few weeks. Friends of mine had been waiting years to get it done publicly

Had to get an X-ray last week after a fall, was in and out of swift care in just over an hour. I had to pay 25 euro. - alternative would have been 60 to see my own doc a few days later and then a referral for a scan.

I’m pretty accident prone and play a fair bit of sports so it’s worth it. Found out recently I can claim back money of my contact lenses too. I’ve never “broken even” on it but it’s always reassuring to have.

29
joed_•

Yep, ~€1300 a year for me as well, and it's employer provided, so I'm only paying half that as tax instead (part of which is refunded as a tax credit too). €750 a month is nuts.

2
hitsujiTMO•

750, if its for the 2 of them sounds about right for the top of the line coverage. All the bells and whistles, no excess, but not worth it if you're not excessively wealthy.

1
IrishJesusDude•

750 a month is for people who spend 750 on dinner.

It's really not worth it till you encounter a situation where it really really is. Take me for example, my dad had insurance through work and when I was 5 I was in a car accident and messed up my eye, long story short, it came down to how quickly they did the operation meant how much sight I would keep, I got it done in 1 week and it cost £38k 30 years ago and dad had to pay zero, had I got it done public I would be blind in that eye and my family just did not have 38k sitting around to go private without insurance.

Now I have it for my family as about 160 a month is cheap for the piece of mind it gives me should something happen to the family.

21
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5
IrishJesusDude•

I must ask my dad about that, I actually never though of it but might not of been covered as the car wasn't actually moving, I was playing on the car and fell off eye first into a trailor bar, detached retina resulted.

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-2†
ContainedChimp•

Name checks out.

3
Ankatilbrewer1962•

If this was in Ireland your treatment would have been free, and it was an emergency so you would have been seen promptly.

5
IrishJesusDude•

This was Ireland and I think your over estimate how the waiting lists work for public healthcare, had it been both eyes then yes it could have been rushed but for 1 detached retina I would have been placed on a list and my sight would have degraded weekly till I was called.

7
manonwalkabout•

I'm not sure your correct there. I suffered an eye injury in Ireland in 1997. I had surgery within 24 hours, unfortunately the damage was so severe that they couldn't save the eye, but I was not on a waiting list for any period of time.

Edit: We were poor. It was all public health care.

5
IrishJesusDude•

But you lost the eye so that is much more serious, mine was a detached retina, serious and gets worse the longer it is left, but it won't be considered an emergency, obviously an emergency doesn't have to go on a waiting list.

0
Thefredtohergeorge•

Whilst there are plans that expensive, and worse, they're not really worth it.

I work in health insurance so I will admit, I'm biased. I am very much in favour of having it.

There are plenty of cheaper plans. I'm on layas inspire plan. It's less than €110 per month. I get money back on gp visits, glasses (which I wear), stuff like that. And if I go into hospital, I pay a small amount, and my insurance covers the rest. In 34 years, I've only ever used my insurance once.

Yes everyone will be treated regardless.. assuming they live to be treated. My mum went to her doctor as her stamina was low. She was getting breathless easily. She put it down to age. Going through mum's family history, she decided to send mum for an ecg, simply to rule out heart issues. Gp was confident nothing would be found.

Couple of weeks later (thanks to insurance) mum went for her ecg. Consultant was lovely. Agreed with gp that there wasn't likely to be anything found, but they would do it, just because of family history.

Results of the ecg: 2 blockages, severe enough that the consultant was surprised, and amazed that mum wasn't sicker than she was. Surgery was done, all was good.

Timeline: first gp visit was August, second stent put in, start of December.

Consultant said that, had she gone public, mum would have died before getting that ecg, as her lack of symptoms were masking the seriousness of the issue. Presenting as a non emergency case in the public system, it would have easily been 12+ months before she would have been seen.. and based on what came to light with the ecg, she wouldn't have survived 12 months.

Our public system is fantastic. I will always say that. But its extremely stressed. Even without the pandemic. All this with mum happened in 2019, before covid. She wouldn't have stood a chance, if she hadn't gone private on her insurance. Instead, if you met her now, you'd never know she was ever so sick.

BTW, her 2 procedures, for about 4 nights total of a stay, came to nearly €50k. She has an insurance plan costing around €1500, I think. She didn't pay any extra on top of that.

18
Ankatilbrewer1962•

If your mums GP sent her to the accident and emergency with breathing difficulties her ECG would be done in a few hours. Her stents would be in in no time. Its the fault of the GP'S that peoples treatment is slow, applying for appointments takes too long. I had five stents put in, and on the day the only space available for me was a private room. I paid for the nights stay in the hospital, that was all, all treatment was free. It makes me laugh when people say, " I only used my insurance once in 34 years". All that wasted money that could be in your bank account. I spent a week in hospital before Christmas, it cost me 160 euro's cash, less than 2 months premiums with your insurance companies.

11
Thefredtohergeorge•

Mum wasnt bad enough for a&e. Literally, mum, dad, her go and the heart specialist, all agreed her lowered stamina and such was due to age. None of her symptoms indicated heart problems. She wasn't having breathing difficulties, she was just getting breathless more easily than before. Like, she was still going for long walks, and exercising well. It was just more difficult.

Literally the only reason an ecg was done, was because my granddad died in his 50s from heart problems despite not being a smoker. It was to just completely run out the heart as the cause of mums low stamina. As such, the ecg was low priority.

A week in a public hospital costs more than €160. That's That's cost for 2 nights. A week would cost you €560.

2
Huge-Bat-1501•

Many GPs can do ECGs, you don't need to be referred to a specialist for one. I've had ECGs done in 3 different GP practices

3
Thefredtohergeorge•

Yeah, thats generally not the case in small rural practices with only 2 doctors.

0
biometricrally•

Is it not? My small rural GP, who only took on a second doctor a few months ago, has offered ecgs for years.

4
Thefredtohergeorge•

Not in my experience. My town has 3 gp clinic, and none have that facility.

0
FreeAndFairErections•

I don’t think there’s a policy out there that costs that much - this isn’t America. I pay about that much per year.

Health insurance probably won’t seem like good value until you need it.

11
Thefredtohergeorge•

There are, some policies cost over 7k for the year. But this are older, really high level policies. As someone who works in health insurance, that's not really necessary, imo.

5
PineappleNCheese•

Can't be that much per month, has to be per year.

And yeah, as someone who currently very much needs private health insurance and doesn't have it I can tell you I've thought much lately about how I wish I'd gotten it a few years ago. You will get absolutely nowhere fast with anything in the public system. It's shocking and so unfair but it's the reality.

10
Ankatilbrewer1962•

It must be something minor if treatment is slow, anything major is treated promptly. Or else your GP is useless, lot of that around.

1
PineappleNCheese•

Are you serious? Nah not at all. I mean I'm not going to die but it's not minor at all. Useless everyone so far, even the consultant I've finally just paid to see.

1
CheraDukatZakalwe•

Better off finding an employer who provides health insurance, that way you only pay income tax on the BIK.

7
Kruminsh•

I'm sorry, but who the heck is quoting you 750/month? I've held private insurance with Vhi in the past (have one with work now) and it wasn't just the bare bones and it was like €1200/year. 🙄

7
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5
Ankatilbrewer1962•

Cancer treatment is free in Ireland, and to a very high standard. I've been treated for prostate cancer successfully and can tell you, the service is brilliant. What were ye spending the money on ???

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1
SnooGiraffes711•

Why does that matter?

-1
[deleted]•

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0
headwrecked87•

From my own experience no it has not been worth it. They always look for a way out, mislead you, dont cover x y and z. Take ages to respond to appeals etc. This is the first year I'm not renewing in ages.

4
Thefredtohergeorge•

That's a load of bull. Health Insurers do everything they can to cover you, within the terms of the policy.

I'm processing claims. We do everything we can before declining a claim. We send letters to patients, to co sultants, to whoever we need, to confirm stuff and see if it can be covered. Most of the time.. that works.

I had to decline a claim recently, big expensive one, worth thousands. No issues on the patients side. They had all the cover in place. So, why did I decline? Because the consultant never signed the form to say they had done the treatment. This was despite sending out two letters requesting the signature, over the course of a month, on top of the original form they would be filled out.

If people can't fill claim forms out correctly, I can't fucking pay claims.

3
headwrecked87•

Do you work for laya?

1
Thefredtohergeorge•

Actually.. nope. I'm insured with them to avoid ethical conflicts of interest, should I have any claims.

1
headwrecked87•

Perhaps the company you work with are less difficult so. What I have said above is not bull. Too long to give a detailed explanation here.

1
JupiterRecruit•

Yes. I pay €1,800 a year for health insurance. Without it I’d be paying €4,000 a year to the hospital for regular treatment. I could go public but then it wouldn’t be regular because I’d be at the mercy of department budgets.

If you have a chronic condition, and pretty-much everyone gets one eventually, then it’s a no-brainer.

3
Ehermagerd•

€750 a month? Mine is €52 a month or something. Whoever is quoting you that need to get a grip on reality.

2
Neat-While-5671•

I think health insurance only benefits over a certain value. If you have the simplest cover it's affordable but you may never see the results. If you go for a good but expensive policy you'd be surprised what you get back. I pay €105 a month and I claim 50% back on every GP, physio. My glasses are covered, I get free cardiac tests every 2 years. Free online doctors appointments too, which have been really beneficial!

2
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1
NunkiesJeedle•

I pay less than that half that for a family

750 is extortionate

2
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1
badgerbother89•

That's a fairly steep policy at that price. I'm paying something in the region of a 100 a month with vhi.

1
FrenchIrishFaerie•

I pay 110€ a month and it’s worth it just on GP visits. I get half back every time. I don’t get worried now to see if I can afford a doctor even in pain.

1
turquoisekestrel•

Vigo health covers non hospital related things and it 40e a month if full health insurance is not in your means

1
Somethingelse129•

Every normal year no it’s not, but I paid it for 10 years and then someone fucked me up with a car plowing into the side of my car at a red lights.

Was happy to have health insurance then and get treatment privately instead of 24 hours waiting in a regional hospital.

I’ll continue to pay it but hopefully it will be money down the drain for here onwards.

1
DmallSenis•

I would be 80 grand out of pocket in my mid 20s without health insurance…. It’s worth it if you need it, not worth if you don’t. Do you want to take that risk.

1