HOW HEALTH INSURANCE COULD LET YOU DOWN ON HOLIDAY
Don’t rely solely on your private health insurance to cover you for problems that arise during or before your holiday. Buy a good travel insurance policy in conjunction with your private health insurance instead. Otherwise, you could have to foot the bill for problems you run into.
GETTING REMAINS SENT HOME
Most of us don’t expect to have our remains — or those of a loved one — sent home during or after a holiday. However, tragedy can strike on holiday — and the repatriation of remains can be very costly and complicated. Should you be relying on your private health insurance, rather than travel insurance, to cover the cost of the repatriation of remains, you could get caught out — depending on the private health insurer.
“Laya’s health insurance doesn’t cover the cost of repatriation of remains if a member dies abroad unexpectedly,” said Dermot Goode, health cover analyst with Totalhealthcover.ie. “VHI will cover the repatriation of remains.”
With Irish Life Health (ILH), you may be covered for the repatriation of remains, depending on the circumstances. A spokeswoman for ILH said that it would cover repatriation if the individual who died had “been receiving emergency care in hospital” as long as the treatment had “been authorised by ILH” and had “commenced within 31 days of the member’s departure from Ireland”. Furthermore, “if a person dies unexpectedly whilst abroad, it is normal for the body to be brought to a hospital,” said the spokeswoman. “In such cases, we consider this to be an admission to hospital. Provided that the ILH member meets all other criteria in relation to length of stay [in the foreign country], being an Irish resident, and has an Irish PPSN, the repatriation benefit can be applied in line with their policy cover.” The ILH spokeswoman said there may be some cases where it wouldn’t cover remains repatriation. Travel insurance usually covers repatriation of remains, though the conditions of your policy dictates this, so check the small print.
FLIGHTS FOR URGENT MEDICAL CARE
Private health insurers will typically cover your repatriation to another country — if you become ill on holiday and need to be flown or transported somewhere for medical treatment. “If a member falls ill while abroad and needs to be evacuated for emergency treatment that has been deemed medically necessary and is not available in the country in which they are travelling, Laya’s private health insurance will cover the cost of their medical evacuation to the nearest medically appropriate country, or to Ireland — whichever is nearer — to receive treatment,” said a spokeswoman for Laya.
GETTING FULL HOSPITAL BILL PAID
“A lot of people don’t buy travel insurance when they go away — they rely on their private health insurance’s cover for overseas emergency medical expenses instead,” said Goode. This is a mistake.
Private health insurance typically covers up to €100,000 of hospital bills (depending on your plan) if you have a medical emergency abroad. However, the cost of a lengthy stay in hospital abroad, particularly the US, could easily be more than €100,000. With travel insurance, the cover for emergency medical expenses arising from hospital treatment abroad typically runs into the millions — and sometimes, tens of millions.