AN extended range of community rated health insurance products was announced by BUPA Ireland yesterday. The chairwoman, Dr Margaret Downes, said the company was providing cover for comprehensive medical treatment to people of any age at a very affordable price.
"This extended range of products gives full cover for the major hospitals, public and private, in the country and ensures real competition in the health insurance industry to the benefit of all Irish consumers," said Dr Downes. The company already has 20,000 members, she added.
The company had to amend its range because the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said its existing products were not community rated. Under a community rated system, people pay the same amount for health insurance regardless of their age.
Initially the company had introduced age related cash plans, which customers had the option of buying, allowing them to upgrade hospital accommodation or meet other associated hospital costs.
Dr Downes said the cash plans would be reintroduced later this year. The Department of Health, she said, had been fully briefed on the new products.
Three new plans were announced by BUPA yesterday - an Essential Scheme, Essential Plus Scheme, and Essential Gold. The managing director, Mr Martin O'Rourke, said that there was generally a price difference in BUPA's favour of about 10 per cent in the various plans offered by BUPA and VHI.
BUPA also offered a number of additional benefits, he said, including full cover for breast prosthesis for women following mastectomy, cover for men's prostate screening, full cover for radio therapy treatment and heart and lifestyle screening, alternative medicines and outpatient benefits.
The Essential Scheme, at a cost of £172.27 annually for an adult before tax relief, continues to offer comprehensive treatment cover for acute illness, including cardiac surgery in the Blackrock Clinic and Mater Private Hospital, as well as comprehensive cancer cover. Outpatient cover includes alternative medicines and women's cancer screening.
The Essential Plus Scheme, which costs £238.93 for an adult and competes directly with the VHI's plans B and C, offers the same treatment benefits as the Essential Scheme and covers hospital accommodation in a private room in a participating public or voluntary hospital, with which BUPA has an agreement, or semi private in a private hospital. A £50 excess applies to this plan, which means that a patient pays this figure for each inpatient claim in several private hospitals.
At the upper end of the market, the Essential Gold scheme provides full cover for accommodation in all participating hospitals, including private accommodation in the Mater Private Hospital and the Blackrock Clinic. Other treatments such as chiropody and optical tests are covered, as well as heart and lifestyle screening. It costs £855.60 per adult per year.
Dr Downes said that the company's market research had shown that the most important thing for people when deciding on health insurance was "certainty at a stressful time. They don't want to be wondering how much they will have to pay.