52 week wait with VHI

So to cut a long story short I upgraded my cover in October so that I could have a baby in Mount Carmel. It's where we both decided on long before I was pregnant. Roll on two months and I am 5 weeks pregnant (a little sooner than anticipated as we had thought we would start from Jan 2012). Now I am stuck in my 52 week wait with VHI, they won't waive the 9 weeks difference, nor will they allow me to pay up in full now and start a new year now, and they want me to fork out €250 if I leave them and go elsewhere (Checked with Aviva, they won't waive the wait either) We can still afford to do the shared care option with insurance but my worry would be what if something went wrong? I guess my question is would I be mad to do Shared Care in Mount Carmel without insurance?

Ah yes... Health Insurance companies will use whatever tactics they can to save a few bob on their end. We were in the same position a few years ago when having DS1! The only way to get around the waiting period is if your policy got upgraded as a result of your or your husband's employer paying for it - this happened to us recently when my husband changed job... employer was with VHI but gave a better policy to employees, in comparison to policy we were on before DH joined company... so when they took over our health insurance & our policy got bumped up, I was told by VHI that any differences in cover, which would normally entail a 52week wait period, got waived. [quote="MrsBabybump":1zkkj2qw] We can still afford to do the shared care option with insurance but my worry would be what if something went wrong? I guess my question is would I be mad to do Shared Care in Mount Carmel without insurance?[/quote:1zkkj2qw] I'm not sure what exactly you're asking here.... Are you thinking of giving up your health insurance entirely and footing entire Mt Carmel bill yourself? Or does your 'old' insurance policy (which you're on for the next 52weeks) not have much in terms of Maternity Benefit? Or are you talking about if you ended up with a c-section & benefits that your existing insurance policy would cover for Mt Carmel? What policy benefits are VHI telling you you will be entitled to while attending Mt Carmel for this pregnancy? If you have any health insurance & want to do Shared Care at Mt Carmel, using your health insurance would be better than footing Mt Carmel bill without insurance... as most insurance companies will contribute SOMETHING towards your expenses... no matter how little.

Thanks for the reply Mammy101. I was furious when I got off the phone with them yesterday. My 'old' plan covers me for private in a public hospital, but no cover for Mount Carmel. If we did go there we would be footing all the bill ourselves, shared care looks to come in around 5k all in (on a normal birth with epi). If we went to say Holles St, we would be paying around 3-4K anyway for the consultant. Might check with my employer....

What plan were you on if you don't mind me asking. I thought on the shared care you could be on plan B. As you are going semi private not private. I thought in mount carmel, plan B allowed you a semi priv room, and plan C or more allowed you a private room ( not on shared scheme , I think)!

[quote="jen2":1ovue8t5]What plan were you on if you don't mind me asking. I thought on the shared care you could be on plan B. As you are going semi private not private. I thought in mount carmel, plan B allowed you a semi priv room, and plan C or more allowed you a private room ( not on shared scheme , I think)![/quote:1ovue8t5] I was on the One plan, and have since moved to Family Plan Plus. Not sure about the Plan B or what it is called now.

Sorry don't know the names of the new plans... Sorry I'm no help.

[quote="jen2":d46oif8j]Sorry don't know the names of the new plans... Sorry I'm no help.[/quote:d46oif8j] I might ring them again and ask them. It's defo shared care we want, as private in Mount Carmel is just too expensive.

This thread gave me an idea. My husband owns his own company so if he goes down the corporate insurance route and puts me on his, he can waive the wait. This is in theory anyway so I'm going to investigate this today. Thanks ladies!

I [i:3ncycpyr]think [/i:3ncycpyr] if he is taking out a brand new policy though he will be subject to a waiting period - I added DH to my corporate policy last year and he was subject to a waiting period although I don't think it was 52 weeks!

I asked the lady in Quinn as she said an employer can waive the full 52 week wait. I am down as an employee in DH's company so he might be able to do something. Should know more today/tomorrow.