VHI’s shock shakeup – a gift for older customers?
News that a major insurer is scrapping some of its pricey health schemes might not be such a bad thing after all…
Up to 150,000 VHI customers were told this week that they can save up to €1,000 a year by switching to Laya after a surprise policy clear-out this week by Ireland’s biggest health insurer. A range of VHI plans are being retired on May 1 next – including the oldest of all, Plan B Options, or as it is now known: HealthPlus Extra. This ageing plan had become quite pricey and offered poor value compared to similar policies available elsewhere.
‘It’s not surprising they’re making HealthPlus Extra redundant. It has been around since I worked in the VHI in 1991 [as Plan B Options] and probably much longer to be honest,’ said Dermot Goode, head of Totalhealthcover.ie, a Lockton company.
While HealthPlus Extra is expensive at €3,400 per year, it provides full cover for certain cardiac, optical and orthopaedic procedures such as hip replacements.
Without full cover for these pricey operations, patients could have to fork out several thousand euro as a ‘co-payment’.
‘This move will be of concern to older members who [need] full cover for major orthopaedic and ophthalmic [eye] procedures. They will have no option now but to shop around for alternative cover from their next renewal date,’ he said
‘If somebody wants to keep the exact same benefits – in other words no shortfalls on procedures involving, say, cataracts, or hips, knees and shoulders, and they want to be fully covered for cardiac stent procedures – then all the other plans from VHI are going to be similarly priced [or dearer] to what they currently have,’ Mr Goode added.
‘There are similar alternatives available from VHI such as their Advanced Care range but members need to be careful that they aren’t transferred to more expensive options.’
‘Anyone on Health Plus Extra [€3,400] could consider the VHI Advanced Care Extra scheme at €3,327 but the out-patient cover is not as generous.
‘If they complain about this, they will likely be offered the Advanced Care Extra Day-toDay scheme but this will increase their cost further to €3,543 per adult,’ he said.
Moving to Laya instead could save VHI members up to €1,000 a year without loss of cover, if they play their cards right, Mr Goode advised.
‘Let’s say somebody asks us is there a better value scheme
[than HealthPlus Extra] that fully covers orthopedics and ophthalmics and you still get money back on routine expenses?’
‘We can recommend [Laya’s] Simply Connect and Simply Connect Plus as still very, very competitive schemes because that’s exactly what they do despite recent price increases.’
Simplicity Laya is another option at €2,000 and if you want to go further upmarket, there’s Laya’s Momentum, which provides 75% back on routine expenses for €2,370.
The Health Insurance Authority website (Hia.ie) has a great tool for comparing health cover. We asked it to find plans that offer full, orthopaedic, ophthalmic and cardiac cover in high-tech hospitals such as the Blackrock Clinic plus high dayto-day benefits (50% back on GP, physio, consultants and other care).
We also asked for cover for semiprivate rooms in private and public hospitals without high excesses (the part of claims you pay yourself). Only seven plans (all Laya) were comparable with HealthPlus Extra in this regard. They include Simply Connect (€1,812) and Simply Connect Plus (€1,952), both of which I can recommend as I switch between the two. The others are Connect Choice (€1,530); Total Health Plus (€1570); ConnectCare 100 (€1,983); Total Health Extra (€1,988) and Total Health Complete (€2,075).
Mr Goode said people shouldn’t rush into a decision after the surprise VHI move this week. Although it applies to policies renewed from May 1, existing contracts can see out their 12-month terms.
‘A lot of people who renewed earlier this year won’t be impacted until next year. This is going to be phased in on a renewal-by-renewal basis so people will have plenty of time and to consider their options.’