A timely warning if you have no health cover

QI intend to buy health insurance for the first time to avoid being penalised by age-loading after May 1. I am 40 years of age. As you suggested in a previous answer, I waited until all the health insurers had unveiled their cheapest deals. But which of these is the best one for me? I can’t really afford to pay more than the minimum as I am saving to buy a house.

AIn just over two weeks’ time, health insurance will change forever. We’re all used to the community rating system that protects older people from paying extra.

From May 1, that will be abolished. From then, a 2% loading applies for every year a new applicant is over 34.

If you miss the deadline, as a 40-yearold buying cover for the first time, you would have to pay a 12% loading.

By age 69, the loading would rise to a whopping 70%, but won’t go any higher than that.

I asked Dermot Goode of www.totalhealthcover.ie to give us a run down of the new cheap deals you mention. Here are the main ones : Dermot stresses that ‘these are not high quality health insurance plans. The insurers have stripped everything possible off to achieve these rates.

‘To have good cover, you need a plan that covers all public and private hospitals.’

The Laya (Assure First) plan is the only scheme to cover all public hospitals, but there is also a €100 excess on consultants’ fees for in-patient treatment.

However, you can avoid this by upgrading to the Assure Vitality scheme at €430 per adult.

The Glohealth Base plan is the cheapest of the four deals picked out by Dermot. But you have to pay your bills first and then claim.

Again, you can avoid this by paying an extra €101 for the Net One plan.

These plans do cover the public hospital charge of €75 per night (€750 max every 12 months).

This applies to all adults and children for public hospital treatment unless you have a medical card.

They also cover the private charge in public hospitals of €813 per night (up to 180 days per annum for most treatments).

‘There is a myth that public treatment is free which is not the case. Even for this alone, these plans are worth considering,’ Dermot advises.

See My View for further analysis and a list of recommended better quality plans.

QIan Bailey recently sued the State over his treatment in the Sophie Toscan Du Plantier murder investigation. He lost the case but I heard that his €5 million euro legal bills are covered by ‘free legal aid’. Is this so? What are the criteria for getting free legal aid?

AMr Bailey may yet have his legal costs paid for by the State if his team can convince the court that he took the case ‘in the public interest’. That has yet to be decided.

The safer way to get free legal aid is to get it approved in advance. It is available for most types of civil cases from the Legal Aid Board, if it considers the case has merit. Most of those it does approve involve family disputes.

Contact your local Law Centre for further details. If you live in Dublin and have a family law legal aid query, the helpline number is 01 6755561. See also www.legalaidboard.ie.