Benefits To Be Cut By Health Insurers
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Why are health insurers cutting benefits while premiums rise?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance. Well your benefits from health insurance could be cut, despite the fact that some premiums are rising from Health Insurance Ireland, Dermot Good is with me now. Good morning, Dermot.
Good morning, Claire.
We knew this was coming, but now it's here, isn't that right?
Yes, that's that's pretty much it. So what has happened here is these changes actually a lot of these changes came in in April and a lot of them will impact Leia members uh predominantly. Now it's not just Leia doing this, but what's happened is everybody now is expecting the price increases, which were just announced in the last few weeks, and they are coming in from the first of October. And bear in mind the peak renewal period now is just upon us. So like half the entire market. market are going to review or renew their cover between November and the end of February. So those renewal notices are going out now. But what's happening, Claire, is everybody's as most bracing themselves for the price increases.
They have forgotten about the benefit reductions. And some of these benefit reductions now are quite significant, particularly for anybody who wants to keep full cover for things like hip replacements and knee and shoulder replacements and even eye procedures like cataract removal. So a lot of a lot of older members, you know, who are worried about those procedures, they have been paying extra premium to have that full cover. They're now going to pay more premium and now they're shocked when they realize they don't even have those benefits anymore. And that's the real wake-up call. For everybody now. If they don't read the fine print. They they potentially could miss this and actually end up paying more for less cover.
Okay. Well then people will be asking, What am I paying for here? Am I paying for uh a a shorter waiting time to have that operation done? Because the financial incentive is is very much reduced.
Which specific procedures are losing full coverage and why?
It is. And look what I would say to anybody who's concerned about this, so you know, if if having full cover for those procedures is really important to you and if you're on one of these plans, and and by the way, maybe just to just to quantify what has happened here, um some plans like Prosper Advance, which was a fantastic plan, but that plan up until up until basically if my renewal date is the first of October. Up until the end of next week, I have full cover for a hip replacement. From the first of October, I have a forty percent shortfall. That is going to cost me at least six thousand euro if I get that done in a private hospital. Now, a lot of people that is just they cannot absorb that. So those people are now going to have to shop around to try and find an equivalent plan.
And unfortunately, Claren, the reality is If they that plan today is two thousand five hundred and sixty four euro. If they want to retain similar benefits to what they currently have, they're going to have to pay close to three uh between three and three and a half thousand euro. to basically keep the cover that they have. So are there other plans there where they can basically keep what they have? Yes, there are, but there is a huge cost implication. And for a lot of people, they just don't have those funds. And then there's other plans and there's there's about 32 by the way plans that have been impacted by this where people had a twenty percent shortfall, which was 3,000 euro for those procedures.
Now they're being told now that's doubling to 40%. So my advice to anybody, well, sorry, to everybody who's renewing, please, you can no longer just look at the premium cost. A lot of people just open the email, they look at the figure, they see, well, if I can afford that, I'll just pay it. If you do that and you don't read the fine print, you could end up finding yourself on a much lower level of cover that won't suit you and you could find yourself being caught out pretty badly financially. So really the advice is now you have to read the small print and check exactly what's happening to your plan.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Why are health insurers cutting benefits while premiums rise?
0:01–1:51
2
Which specific procedures are losing full coverage and why?
1:51–4:14
3
How do the new short‑fall percentages affect the cost of hip, knee or eye surgery?
4:14–5:52
4
What options exist for members who want to keep full cover without paying extra?
5:52–7:51
5
How can policy‑holders avoid auto‑renewing into reduced‑benefit plans?
7:51–9:57
6
What role does medical inflation and claim costs play in premium increases?
9:57–12:13
7
Should members set aside money themselves instead of paying higher premiums?
12:13–14:30
8
What steps should listeners take right now to protect their health‑insurance benefits?
14:30–16:20