How to save money by switching health insurance – Independent.ie
An elderly couple could save as much as €5,500 a year by moving to better value health cover while a family of four could save as much as €3,400, according to an analysis of the various private health insurance plans on the market.
In this analysis, the Sunday Independent lined up Dermot Goode, health cover analyst with Totalhealthcover.ie as well as the health insurance expert Barbara Sheahan to track down some of the best value private health insurance plans.
“Too many people are still on dated health insurance plans and are therefore potentially overpaying for their cover,” said Goode.
“Older members in particular are more likely to be affected by this as they are fearful of change and are worried about potential breaks in cover or loss of benefits.
“Generally speaking, if you are on the same plan for three years or more; if you have all family members on the same plan; if you haven’t considered a full corporate scheme; or if you have never reviewed your cover at all, you could be missing out on potential savings and even enhanced cover.”
Here are some of the best value plans recommended by our experts:
1 Young family
A young family of four could save up to almost €1,500 a year by switching to better value cover, according to the analysis.
Let us say you are a family of two adults in their early forties and two children under the age of 10. You’re all in good health. You want a plan which covers treatment in private and public hospitals.
You can get good value health cover for the family for around €2,900 with VHI Healthcare – or around €2,740 with Laya Healthcare or Irish Life Health (ILH), according to Goode.
To get the best value, Goode recommends splitting the family’s cover – where adults and children are insured on separate plans but still on the one policy.
For a family seeking cover with VHI, Goode recommends VHI PMI 5210 for both adults (at a cost of €1,219 each) and Enhanced Care 250 for each child (at a cost of €220 each). This brings the total cost of the family’s cover to €2,878.
For a family seeking cover with Laya, Goode recommends Laya Inspire for the adults (at a cost of €1,220 each) and eldest child (at a cost of €301) – with the youngest child then put on Flex 125 Explore (which is free for the next year). You are eligible for the free Flex 125 Explore cover for the youngest child as long as you’re paying for cover for the eldest child – even if that cover is on a different plan (such as Inspire), according to Goode.
The total cost of the family’s cover in this case is €2,741 as long as you pay the annual premium in full and upfront. (Laya charges a 3pc surcharge if you pay your plan monthly by direct debit).
The ILH plans which Goode recommended for this family are Benefit Extra for the adults (at a cost of €1,170 each) and the Benefit plan for the children (at a cost of €200 each), bringing the total cost of the family’s cover to €2,740.
All of the plans recommended by Goode for this family cover stays in all public and private hospitals – although excesses (the first part of a claim which you pay yourself) usually apply to care in private hospitals.
Be aware of any restrictions in a plan’s cover for cardiac procedures should it be likely such care will be needed – particularly in relation to high-tech cardiac procedures.
“For example, there is no cover for treatment in the Blackrock Clinic or Mater Private under Benefit Extra,” said Goode.
You should also check for shortfalls on the cover provided for certain orthopaedic (treatment often related to the back, knees and hips) and ophthalmic (treatment related to the eye) if such cover is important.
All of the plans which Goode has recommended for adults offer refunds for day-to-day medical expenses – with no excess to pay first.
Note, however, that the cover provided for children’s daily medical expenses by these plans isn’t as good as the adult plans.
The amount of savings (if any) which can be made on the above plans will depend on the cost of the health insurance which the family is switching from.
A family switching its Laya cover from the Flex 125 Explore plan (assuming the whole family is on this plan) to the Laya cover recommended by Goode for example would save almost €1,700 a year.
A family switching from the ILH Better Advantage plan to the ILH cover recommended by Goode would save almost €1,560 a year (assuming the entire family is currently on Better Advantage).
Even if the family switches from VHI’s reasonably priced One Plan Family to the VHI cover tipped by Goode, it would still save about €214 (assuming the entire family is on One Plan Family).
2 Older family
A family of four – where the children are young adults – could save up to €3,400 a year on its health insurance by switching to better value cover.
Let us say you are a family where both parents are aged 50 and where one child is aged 18; and the other aged 20. You’re all in good health.
Such a family should split its cover, advised Sheahan.
“Everyone on the policy does not need to be insured on the same plan,” said Sheahan.
“It is likely that a family of this age group will see a jump in premiums at renewal this year as the 18-year-old can no longer avail of the children’s rates (which should be no more than 50pc of the adult rate).
“The children can however be placed on a policy which gives a young adult discount. Any policy without this young adult discount does not offer good value for anyone aged between 18 and 25.”
Some examples of poor value plans for an 18- and 20-year-old are Laya’s Control 300 Create (costs €1,309 for a young adult) and ILH’s Select with day-to-day and emergency packs (costs €804 for a young adult), according to Sheahan.
Some good value mid-level plans which Sheahan recommends for the young adults in this family are ILH’s Benefit Access 300 (which costs €453.40 a year per young adult aged between 18 and 20), Laya’s Signify Plus (which costs €471 per young adult if you pay in full and upfront) and Vhi’s Enhanced Care 250 (which costs €370 per young adult).
“VHI’s Company Plan Plus Level 1.3 (which costs €442.60 for a young adult) is well priced for young adults if cover for day-to-day medical expenses is required,” said Sheahan.
For the 50-year-old parents in this family, Sheahan recommends ILH’s 4D Health 2 (which costs €1,394 per adult), Laya’s Inspire Plus (€1,346 per adult) and VHI’s PMI 5310 (€1,351 per adult).
“These plans all cover a semi-private room in a private hospital with varying excesses – and offer money back on everyday expenses like visits to a consultant, GP, dentist and physiotherapist,” said Sheahan.
For a family seeking cover with VHI, the total cost of health cover comes to €3,442 – if both adults are on PMI 5310 and both young adults are on Enhanced Care 250.
With Laya, the total cost for the family comes to €3,633 – if both adults are on Inspire Plus and both young adults are on Signify Plus.
With ILH, the total bill comes to €3,695 if both adults are on 4D Health 2 and both young adults are on Benefit Access 300.
The amount that could be saved by this family by moving to the advised alternatives will depend on the cost of their current plans.
“If the adults who are in their 50s are overpaying, it is likely they are on a dated corporate plan,” said Sheahan.
“These include ILH’s Business Plan Select (which costs €2,564 per adult) and Laya’s Company Care Excess (€2,187 per adult).”
At these rates, this family would save about €3,359 a year if both adults were on Laya’s Company Care Excess and both young adults were on Laya’s Control 300 Create plans – and they all switched to the Laya cover recommended by Sheahan.
The family would save €3,042 a year if both adults were on ILH’s Business Plan Select and both young adults were on ILH’s Select with Day 2 Day and Emergency Pack – and they switched to the ILH cover recommended by Sheahan.
3 Couple in their 60s and 70s
Let us say you are a couple who are both aged 60 and who have no children. You are both in good health. You can get good value health insurance for about €1,800 a year each, according to Goode.
The plans recommended by Goode for this couple are VHI Company Plan Extra Level 1 (at a cost of €1,823 per adult), Laya’s Momentum (at €1,825 per adult, if you pay in full and upfront) and ILH’s 4D Health 5 (at €1,866 per adult).
These plans cover stays in semi-private and private rooms in private hospitals.
There are small excesses for stays in a private room in a private hospital. “These plans have excellent high-tech cardiac and outpatient cover,” said Goode. “There may be shortfalls on these plans on listed orthopaedic and ophthalmic procedures in private hospitals and these shortfalls would need to be considered.”
VHI Company Plan Extra Level 1, Laya’s Momentum and ILH’s 4D Health 5 were also recommended by Sheahan for a married couple in their early-seventies.
The amount that can be saved by either couple by switching will depend on the cost of their existing plans. “Poor value plans include ILH’s Level 2 Hospital with day-to-day (which costs €3,901 a year per adult), Laya’s Essential Plus No Excess (€4,117 per adult) and VHI’s Premium Care (€4,597 per adult),” said Sheahan.
At these rates, a couple in their 60’s or 70’s could save between €4,000 and €5,000 a year by moving to one of the better-value alternatives recommended by our experts.
