Question on public/private rooms

Girls, I am going public but i do have private insurance with Quinn. Can i look for a semi private room after the birth, I presume i would be covered ? Thanks in advance, I hate ringing insurance companies, its all spiel !

you can ask yes you would be covered but TBH there isnt enough private rooms in most hosp for private patients! same story with semi private

thanks, will ask on day and see how it goes.

Worth asking for, depends on how busy they are. Some hospitals will charge a bit extra for upgrading, this won't be covered by your insurance. e.g holles st have started charging €500 to public/domino patients for semi-private accomodation!!

[quote="holles st have started charging €500 to public/domino patients for semi-private accomodation!![/quote] Really? So does that mean that they are charging €500 as well as usual fee for accomodation? I am thinking of going to a satellite clinic but getting semi-private accomodation - how much would this cost?

I am going with the mid-wife led option (through Holles St) and rang up semi-private and enquired about this. They said it costs €800 for semi-private room and that VHI cover 300 and you have to pay 500. Now I am not sure if this is because I am doing to mid-wife led (which is public) or because I am public? Ring up your hospital and ask to be put through the the semi-private section and they will tell you. To be honest I originally was thinking I would go with SP accommodation but don't think I will fork out €500 for it - especially if I am only there one or two nights if I can help it. Also they said the €500 has to be paid in advance - so could pay €500 in advance and then there ends up no rooms available and you don't get the €500 back - which I think is a complete rip off

I'm covered by health insurance for private room, but there isn't really a hope of getting one in Holles Street when there aren't enough for those that pay private consultants (and these have priority). I am going with the midwives (public), rang HS and they said it's 800, health insurance covers about 300. The nurse said not to pay it until after 6 months gestation. This will only cover a semi-private room. Under midwives option, you are supposed to be open to leaving hospital early, but I just want to be prepared in case I end up in there longer for any reason.

[quote="MrsRugby":2m8allc8]Girls, I am going public but i do have private insurance with Quinn. Can i look for a semi private room after the birth, I presume i would be covered ? Thanks in advance, I hate ringing insurance companies, its all spiel ! [/quote:2m8allc8] Mrs Rugby i would just check with your provider first, when i was onto VHI last week ( i was checking up on whether or not too change policy) anyway i mentioned that i was going public and he said gave me the impression that you wouldn't be covered. would love to hear if anyone has done this - as it stands now i am having pretty average pg. No issues etc but if things were to change i think i would like to have the choice to change.?

baby pickle I think the post if more in relation to asking for a SP room but everything else public iykwim? So basically not changing you actual level of care from public to SP but just opting for the SP room after you have the baby. I think you are talking about changing from public to SP or private towards the end of your pregnancy?? If so I don't know about this one but would assume a consultant would allow it but still have to pay them the full amount of fees (instead of only for the amount of pregnancy you use them for) - not sure what health insurance company would think of this sorry. One thing I have heard through friends and family if something goes wrong with your pregnancy and it becomes high risk - they give you the same level of care regardless of what option you've chosen.

thanks married life, yeh im happy with public and cant imagine the level of care would be any different if anything were to go wrong but its nice to have the choice.