Health Insurance
At Hennelly Finance, we have established ourselves as one of the leading independent health insurance brokers in the Irish market. Our experienced team of experts have extensive knowledge of the health insurance market in Ireland and can advise you on what plans are available to best suit your needs.
You should aim to review your health insurance cover at least once a year, when you receive your renewal notice. Hennelly Finance are here to help you with our FREE Health Insurance Comparison Service. By considering what is important to you we can help you select an appropriate plan that suits your individual requirements. As these will change over time, we recommend that you have your cover reviewed on an annual basis to ensure that you hold appropriate cover.
Health insurance has become increasingly complex over the past few years. It can be extremely difficult to sift through the multitude of plans available to find the one that’s best for you. There are 3 insurers (VHI Healthcare, Laya Healthcare & Irish Life Health) and over 200 different plans available and different features on all of these plans.
On the plus side, there is real choice in the market when it comes to provider and type of policy. Shopping around can result in you saving money and/or having access to more benefits.
Ways of potentially saving money on your health insurance:
- Opting for a cheaper corporate plan that offers similar benefits. These are not marketed to the public but insurance companies may offer them to consumers if asked.
- Putting your children on a different plan to yourself.
- Getting quotes from different providers.
- Paying an excess on any claim that you make.
- Downgrading your cover to save money. If you do decide to downgrade, you need to consider whether the savings are worth any loss in cover and think about whether a lower level of cover suits your needs. You should also be aware that if you decide to upgrade your cover in the future, waiting periods can apply.
- Do the math before buying ‘Day to Day’ (money back on medical expenses) cover. Before adding this benefit to your cover, compare your average annual expenditure on routine medical expenses to the cost of including this additional cover in your plan. The average refund you receive with this cover is 50%, therefore it may not be a cost-effective add-on.
- Ensure no surcharges when paying, for example by instalment payments (Direct Debit).
- Avail of student rates if you have a child in full time education. This is available from all insurers subject to certain criteria.
- Review your cover every year!
Do you need Private Medical Insurance?
The decision to take out private health insurance or indeed to maintain cover on your private health insurance policy is not one that any of us take lightly. After all there is a public health system in Ireland which is supposed to cater for our needs.
Unfortunately in Ireland the limitations of the public health system feature almost daily in the news. We regularly hear the challenges that people face in the public system in terms of:
- Accessing a bed in hospital urgently
- Getting access to treatment for non-urgent health issues
- Getting access to a particular consultant quickly
- Managing their out-patient (e.g. GP) costs.
Key considerations when buying health insurance:
- What is your budget, i.e. how much do you plan to spend?
- What type of hospitals do you want to be covered for, e.g. public hospitals only or public and private hospitals?
- What type of accommodation cover do you want, e.g. would you prefer a private room or would semi-private suffice (no more than 5 beds)?
Additional cover options that you may wish to consider:
- Routine medical expenses cover – ‘Day to Day’ cover such as GP visits, routine dental, physiotherapy and other costs. Before adding this to your cover, calculate what your average annual spend is, as you normally only get a refund of approx. 50%
- Maternity expenses cover – if you are planning a family, you should note that all insurers only give a ‘grant-in-aid’ towards maternity, so you will never be fully covered for these costs
- High tech hospitals cover – for hospitals such as the Mater Private, Blackrock Clinic or the Beacon Hospital
- Private psychiatric, convalescence or travel cover
Our experienced team of experts have extensive knowledge of the health insurance market in Ireland and can advise you on what plans are available to best suit your needs. In one short phone call, we will review your cover. Call us today on 091 670 123.
