Private Health Insurance

Private health care in Ireland

There are only two private health insurers in Ireland: the Voluntary Health Insurance (VHI) board and the UK-based BUPA.

If you’re already covered by private health insurance abroad, you may be able to transfer to VHI or BUPA in Ireland (both companies have reciprocal agreements with foreign insurance companies including Blue Shield, Blue Cross and PPP).

EU legislation requires insurers to allow members to transfer to another provider without penalty. Both VHI and BUPA premiums are calculated on the basis of ‘community rating’, which means that all members pay the same amount and premiums don’t increase with age. This means that younger people generally pay more than they would under a purely risk-based system. There is, however, a lower rate for those aged under 21 with BUPA or aged under 18 with VHI.

You must be under 65 to join either BUPA or VHI and neither organisation requires new policyholders to have a medical examination, although both impose a ‘waiting period’ of 26 weeks if you’re aged under 55 and 52 weeks if you’re over 55, during which you’re unable to make claims. If you become pregnant within 52 weeks of joining, you won’t be entitled to maternity benefit. If you have a ‘pre-existing’ medical condition, you’ll need to have been a member for at least five years (seven years if you’re aged over 55 but under 60 and ten years if you’re over 60) before being able to claim for treatment for that condition.

These conditions are standard among all private health insurance companies in Ireland, but they are also ‘transferable’, i.e. if you have been a member of VHI for 26 weeks and transfer to BUPA (or vice versa), you’ll be entitled to claim immediately.

VHI is a non-profit organisation established in 1957 with some 1.5 million members. BUPA, also a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation, was established in 1947 and its services became available in Ireland in November 1996; it now claims a membership of 170,000. BUPA offers a choice of three plans (Essential, Essential Plus and Gold), whereas VHI has no fewer than ten to choose from (A to E with ‘options’ on each).

Although VHI claims 50 per cent lower running costs than UK health insurers, its premiums are higher than BUPA’s. Both companies operate group schemes (six or more members) for companies and organisations, providing a 10 per cent reduction off individual rates. Private health insurance is provided by many employers in Ireland, although in most cases employees are required to make a contribution. Note that tax relief at the standard rate (26 per cent) is available to those paying private health insurance.

The conditions and benefits offered by the two companies are also similar. Both companies provide full hospital cover in most of their designated hospitals (VHI lists 97 hospitals compared with BUPA’s 83), but only partial cover in the remainder. Both companies provide help towards maternity costs, as well as offering an allowance for mothers who choose to give birth at home.

BUPA also provides the option of certain ‘approved’ alternative therapies such as acupuncture. Both VHI and BUPA operate a world-wide emergency medical assistance scheme (VHI call theirs ‘VHI Assist’), which is included in the normal cover.

Note that the rules applicable to both VHI and BUPA can change at any time, so you should check the current situation. BUPA Ireland is based at Mill Island, Fermoy, Co. Cork (Tel. 025-42121; www.bupaireland.ie) and VHI has offices in Dublin, Cork, Dun Laoghaire, Galway and Limerick (Dublin office Tel. 01-872 4499; www.vhi.ie).