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Private health insurance is very common in Ireland.
Health insurance is used to pay for private care in hospitals or from various health professionals in hospitals or in their practices. There are now 3 insurance providers currently in ireland:-
The Voluntary Health Insurance Board (VHI) is the largest provider of voluntary private health insurance. It is a semi-state body whose board is appointed by the Minister for Health and Children.
Quinn Direct took over BUPA Ireland this year and is the second largest provider of voluntary private health insurance in Ireland.
A recent arrival in the Irish health insurance market is Vivas

Check out the Irish Guide to Money for some more advice on finances.

Do you need to bother with health insurance cover?

Ireland seems to have a reputation of being expensive for healthcare - but Any EU national or a person "ordinarily resident" in Ireland is entitled to the following for free:
a) All in-patient public hospital services in public wards, including consultant services, subject to certain charges. There is a daily charge of €60 for public hospital accommodation, up to a maximum limit of €450 in any consecutive 12 months.

b) All other out-patient hospital services, including consultants.
Accident and Emergency department treatment. If your doctor refers you, there is no charge. Otherwise it costs €60 per visit.

c) Maternity and Infant care services including the services of a GP during pregnancy and for up to six weeks after the birth. FREE

A visit to a GP will cost you around 30 to 45 euro - and some insurance schemes will refund some of this fee - but in my opinion you would have to be pretty sick to make enough visits to a GP to make it worthwhile taking out insurance for all the family.

A recent survey - in summer 2006 - found that many private patients in Ireland were waiting longer than public ones for certain types of procedures. So is health insurance really worth it - or is it just a snobbery thing to get a private room etc? If you want private rooms and possible shorter waits - then health insurance is for you. But if you are willing to go on the public wards with everyone else - then insurance may be a waste of good money. (A typical basic insurance scheme could cost €875 euro for a family of 5)

Tip - If you have medical expenditure in Ireland and are a taxpayer - you can get tax relief on all expenses - medicine, treatment (except dental)

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