VHI customers facing massive hikes in their annual health insurance bills may be able to save hundreds of euro a year by switching plans.

Two thirds of customers will see a rise of 15 per cent in their premium from next month and the average annual premium will rise by €331.

But older customers on the Plan B and Plan B Option will face an increase of up to 45 per cent from February 1.

Around 29 per cent of VHI’s customers are on these plans and on February 1, the price of Plan B health insurance will go up €317 to €1,224 – the equivalent of €26 a month.

Those on the Plan B Option will see the cost of insurance go up from €985.86 to €1,429.50.

But customers can switch plans – the nearest equivalent to the Plan B and Plan B Options is the Teachers Plan which is over €200 a year cheaper.

The Health Insurance Authority, which regulates the sector, has a comprehensive price comparison area on its site. It has provided us with nine comparisons for VHI customers – all the links are at the end of this article.

The HIA points out that customers can switch insurers. Rival insurance companies cannot refuse to cover customers if they are merely switching provider.

There are also plenty of savings to be had by switching the insurance package with the same provider.

By law, health insurers are obliged to offer any package in their system to any customer. This means doctors can avail of a teachers package if they want, a self-employed person can avail of a company package or even a teachers package if they wished and so on.

The company plan or corporate plan is often cheaper than the regular package and it is worth enquiring about.

In the case of Quinn, the company plan is €262 cheaper a year an the Essential Plus, which is its most popular plan.

Plan B customers can save over €200

The nearest equivalent for those on Plan B or Plan B Option is the Teachers Plan.

At current prices, the Teachers Plan is €772 a year compared to €906.99 for Plan B and €986 for Plan B Option.

This means savings of up to €234 a year.

Some cover may be slightly different, but check the HIA comparisons links below or phone the HIA or the VHI to find out which suits your needs.

VHI says the Plan B or Plan B Option are no longer its most popular package.

It says its best value package for families is its One+ Plan where children are insured for free.

That currently costs €1,440 a year compared to the €2,208.34 cost of the Parents and Kids plan, which is VHI’s most popular family package.

That represents a saving of almost €600 a year.

There are over 200 packages in the market and the HIA offers a phone service and an online service which will compare prices of every package.

source : http://www.rte.ie/news/money/consumer/save-hundreds-by-switching-health-plan.html

On 2 August 2010 Aviva will increase the rates of Business Plan Select. Adult prices will increase from €701.30 to €728. Child (1-3) prices will increase from €246.90 to €251.30 and student (1-3) prices will increase from €342.40 to €350.20.

New rates will apply to all new and renewing customers from 2 August 2010.

Click here to get a Health Insurance Quotes.

At present, companies that are offering cover for in-patient hospital services must offer a minimum level of benefits. They must provide a minimum level of cover in respect of:

• Day care/in-patient treatment
• Hospital out-patient treatment
• Maternity benefits
• Convalescence
• Psychiatric treatment and substance abuse

The minimum accommodation level is semi-private in a public hospital.

The Health Insurance Authority is the independent statutory regulator for the private health insurance market in Ireland. It monitors the operation of health insurance business in Ireland and advises the Minister for Health and Children in this regard, including assessing the effect of any regulations or new legislation on consumers. The HIA aims to ensure that consumers are aware of their rights; that policies and publicity material describe cover in a fair and comparable way and that community rating, open enrolment and lifetime cover are protected and maintained. The Authority also reviews the appropriateness of the procedures used by insurers in their dealings with consumers.

The Health Insurance Authority has two useful publications; My Rights, My Choices and Selecting a Private Health Insurance Product. You can read them online or request a hard copy.

You can also compare the benefits and prices of different health insurance products with their product comparison tool.

The state controlled health insurer, VHI, was nearly €42 million in the red at the end of last year. It had lost 120,000 customers, most likely through a combination of policy non-renewals from the downturn and increased competition.

The upshot of all this for customers of the health insurer is that they face further hikes in their premiums of around 6 per cent to 7 per cent.

VHI said that it is losing significant sums of money on its older client base. All of these issues raise serious questions about the future direction of health insurance in this country.

The sector is fraught with problems, anomalies and inconsistencies. Customers have benefited from increased competition in recent years, with the arrival of Quinn Insurance, taking over Bupa’s Irish business, and the country’s largest insurer, Aviva, taking over Vivas.

The sector has one state-controlled and two private sector operators.

The private sector players complain that the system is heavily weighted in favour of VHI, which is the largest player and is exempt from certain solvency ratios applied to them.

VHI maintains the system where its competitors partly subsidise its operations because of its older client base, does not go far enough.

While the private sector operators complain, they continue to make profits. But equally, while VHI enjoys exemptions, it continues to hike prices and rack up losses.

Both sides of the argument have a point, but ultimately a proper reform of the market is required.

Government policy is to maintain community rating, whereby older customers do not pay more for their health insurance because of their age. This weighs heavily on VHI, but also allows its competitors to cherry pick the market.

The form of risk equalisation, aimed at compensating VHI for its older customer base, was intended as a temporary measure, after previous legislation failed to stand up in court.

The government must decide whether it wants community rating or not. If it does, then a proper transparent framework must be devised to the benefit of all the players in this market and the customers in need of adequate cost-effective health insurance.

Undoubtedly, VHI should do more to absorb losses by cutting its cost base. Its competitors operate on much lower costs. But equally, the parties complaining the most about the system, namely VHI competitors, are making money.

The government plans to give VHI a cash injection as a precursor to a future privatisation of the company. If this forms part of a proper reform of the system then it should be welcomed.

Ireland’s ageing population is a simple fact that will not change. People have a right to an adequate health system but equally they should not have to pay exorbitant premiums for private cover, due to inadequacies of the public service in this area.

Health insurance has been put on the back burner since the collapse of the new legislative framework aimed at resolving the issue. A proper long-term solution is long overdue.

Source: Sunday Business Post