Charlie Weston: Families are victorious in healthcare price war
Thursday September 09 2010
AMID all the bad news there are some positives. A price war has broken out among private healthcare insurers, with families targeted for the best deals.
This may be of some help to the large numbers of cash-strapped families under pressure to meet healthcare bills.
Some 800 people a week are cancelling their policies or allowing them to lapse.
To counteract this, the VHI, Aviva and Quinn are heavily discounting health plans for adults and offering to insure children for free on some of their plans.
The offers mean families could save up to €650 by signing up for the cut-price deals, health insurance broker Dermot Goode of healthinsurancesavings.ie said.
The VHI is offering to insure children for free on its popular Plan B Parents and Kids policy for those who sign up before October 3.
And members who sign up for this deal will save between €191 and €197 for each child. The higher saving is for those who opt to accept an excess. This means the family will have to pay the first €75 of any claim.
A family with three children can save up to €591 by opting for the Parents and Kids offer.
There is also free cover for children on the VHI's One Plus plan.
Aviva is offering free cover for children on its Level 1 plan. The Level 2 hospital plan is available at a reduced cost of €780 per adult (normally €825) and €95 per child (normally €190) until the end of this month.
Quinn Healthcare is offering free cover for children on its Essential Health plan. However, this is a basic plan with no cover for a private room in a public hospital.
Quinn is also offering reduced costs for adults, with the rate cut from €730 to €694.
For those insured with Quinn on the Essential Plus Excess scheme with two children, they could reduce their costs by €520 by switching the children to the Essential Health Scheme.
Alternative
Another option, if you have given up your health insurance, is to consider a hospital cash plan such as those run by the non-profit making provider HSF.
It offers a low-cost alternative to health insurance for many Irish families.
Cash plans do not pay private hospital or operation costs, but they do give cash back for a range of everyday health care costs including GP, prescription, consultant, dental and optical, along with grants for hospital stays and births.
- Charlie Weston
Irish Independent
