Depending on your level of cover, your health insurance may not fully cover the total cost of your stay in hospital. However, some policies have limited cover or cover only a semi-private room. There are no private maternity hospitals in Ireland.
Understanding benefits and costs
However, you may have to serve waiting periods if you have a pre-existing condition. You can buy health insurance regardless of your age, gender, health status or medical history. Policies with higher cover also cover the anaesthetist, pathology, and a paediatric consultation in hospital. All policies cover your inpatient delivery consultant’s fees.
The health insurance system in Ireland is called Lifetime Community Rating. In some cases, your insurer may allow you to switch contracts during the term of your 12-month contract. The cost of the policy must be the same regardless of your age, except in the case where children and young adults may be entitled to discounts. However, if you are aged you may get a young adult rate on certain policies.
You must keep copies of your receipts to claim back this tax relief. You don’t need to claim the tax relief from Revenue. This means that the tax relief is automatically given as a discount on the cost of your policy.
The credits and levy are administered by the insurers and the Risk Equalisation Fund. It is important to speak with the insurer directly before you buy a policy to understand how any part of the policy may be discounted. In most cases the price on our comparison tool does not include a discount. Some insurers automatically include this discount in their prices. An insurer can offer a group discount of up to 10% on any policy to a group of people.
Before entering into a health insurance contract, you should check what level of hospital accommodation cover you have. Read our guide to choosing a health insurance policy for more detailed information. We have lots of helpful information about health insurance on our website, including our free comparison tool. Depending on your policy, you may get some money back for outpatient consultant services. You won’t have cover for inpatient consultant services provided during a stay in hospital. You can buy a cash plan from HSF Health Plan, Irish Life Health, Laya Healthcare or Vhi Healthcare.
In general, health insurance policies are 12-month contracts. If you have completed your new customer waiting periods, you will be covered immediately for any pre-existing condition. Anyone can buy health insurance regardless of age, gender, health status or medical history. These policies provide fixed amounts of money regardless of the actual lucknation casino no deposit bonus cost of your medical expenses.
It is not possible to purchase health insurance through the HIA, so please exercise caution when sharing information online. Buying or renewing health insurance soon?
Foreign health insurance is not always taken into account when calculating your waiting periods. Contact your insurer directly to find out more about switching policies mid-contract. If you switch insurers mid-contract, you may be charged a cancellation fee. All insurers must provide a 14-day cooling-off period from the renewal date. You can switch insurer or policy at your next renewal date.
I have a pre-existing condition. Can I switch insurer?
Depending on your policy, you may also get some cover for outpatient consultant services, but you may have to pay an excess. Depending on your policy, you may get cover for a semi-private or a private room. Your outpatient benefits depend on your level of cover. If you have a break in health insurance cover of more than 13 weeks, you may have to serve new customer waiting periods again.
- For more information, go to upgrade waiting periods.
- This means that everyone who buys a particular health insurance policy pays the same amount regardless of age, gender, health status or medical history.
- However, if you buy health insurance for the first time when you are 45, you will have to pay a Lifetime Community Rating of 22% (11 years x 2%).
- Anyone can buy health insurance regardless of age, gender, health status or medical history.
- You can compare health insurance policies for free by using our comparison tool, or you can contact us for impartial information.
- For example, if you paid €60 for a GP visit and you already got €20 from your health insurance, you can claim tax relief on the remaining €40.
A cash play may be useful for you if you don’t have inpatient health insurance or if your inpatient health insurance policy doesn’t have good outpatient cover. Time spent covered under a health insurance cash plan will not exempt you from a Lifetime Community Rating loading if you buy an inpatient health insurance policy after the age of 35. Most cash plans offer significant outpatient benefits. Cash plans don’t provide cover for a hospital stay as a private patient. Unlike inpatient health insurance policies, they don’t provide cover for a hospital stay as a private patient. If you have health insurance, you can claim tax relief on the portion of your medical costs not covered by your insurer.
Similarly, if you are admitted to hospital, you will need to tell the hospital whether you want to be admitted as a public patient or a private patient. Any person who is ordinarily resident in the Republic of Ireland can buy health insurance regardless of age, gender, health status or medical history. The data presented on this website is submitted by regulated insurers and is published by the HIA following a quality assurance process undertaken by the HIA. This will bring you directly to a comparison page showing just the plans you’ve selected.
- Buying or renewing health insurance soon?
- If you switch insurers mid-contract, you may be charged a cancellation fee.
- This will bring you directly to a comparison page showing just the plans you’ve selected.
- The HIA will never ask for or store personal data or payment information on our website or comparison tool.
- A pre-existing condition is an illness that you had in the six months before you bought your health insurance policy.
My insurer has increased the cost of my policy. Is that allowed?
This helps the tool understand what you’re looking for. Information about how we regulate, Register of health benefits undertakings, Register of Health Insurance Contracts, and Definitive Hospital List. We regulate for a well-functioning market and provide consumers with information and tools to make informed choices. Yes, a regulated financial advisor or salesperson may be able to help you choose a policy that is suitable for your needs.
Choosing a policy
However, the insurer may waive the waiting period at their discretion. For more information, go to upgrade waiting periods. For example, you might be able to move from one Laya Healthcare policy to a different Laya Healthcare policy.
For example, if you paid €60 for a GP visit and you already got €20 from your health insurance, you can claim tax relief on the remaining €40. This means you will need to claim medical insurance tax relief from Revenue. If your employer pays for your health insurance as a benefit-in-kind, you will be taxed on the gross value of your policy.
When we know enough about what you’re looking for, you will be shown the most suitable plans for you based on your answers. Next, the tool will ask you to choose between the different levels of cover for each of your preferred coverage areas, with reference to the potential cost. In order to do this, you will be asked to rank nine different health insurance coverage areas from most to least important to you.
It will make it easier for you to understand your options and choose a health insurance plan. Our comparison tool is independent and impartial . It might be useful to think about how often you expect to claim under a particular benefit and work out whether it’s good value for you to have this benefit in your policy. This means that even if you have cover for a private room, you may have to share a room if there are no private rooms available. You should check the level of cover and the terms and conditions before you enter into any health insurance contract.