Going to Ireland on holiday for Christmas. What sort of Health Insurance do I need?

[Diddlysquats]

We're all travelling to Ireland for Christmas to see DH relatives. Ds has asthma and I believe you need to pay for treatment in Ireland. Should we take out travel insurance or is their some sort of EU cover? Don't want to be landed with a massive bill if ds needs treatment or worse still, refused treatment.

Where are you traveling from?

England

reciprocal plus the NHS is in the north so you can always nip up there. I wouldn’t bother with insurance

We're going to the south. Mayo which is in the west. With an asthma attack I think we'd be about a two or three hour drive from the north.

Do you have an EHIC card? If you have one then you'll get free GP and hospital care same as in UK.

www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/apply-for-a-free-ehic-european-health-insurance-card/

So will it be free because we're English, or reciprocal because we'll get the treatment but will have to pay?

We're going to the south. Mayo which is in the west.

So not the south then!

I think the deal between UK and Ireland allows you to avail of public health services here without the EU health card thingy so you won't be refused treatment.

If you end up going to A&E in a public hospital, there is a €100 fee. After that, the public health service will cover treatment.

I'd still advise travel insurance.

@Croibeag - Do you have an EHIC card? If you have one then you'll get free GP and hospital care same as in UK.

No you won't. GPS are only free if you have a medical card and you have to pay for A&E unless you get referred by a GP. I'm not sure about payment with an ambulance.

A trip to A&E costs about €100, you get a bill afterwards. GP visit about €60 although I think this might be waived as part of a reciprocal agreement with UK (someone else will know better)... Unless your DS is prone to regularly needing medical treatment, I don't think I would get extra health insurance.

You won't be refused treatment here anyway but travel insurance is so cheap, why would you not it? There are always threads here where someone has to cancel a holiday/gets robbed/sick/has an accident and say they have no insurance and you end up with pages of people calling tight and thick. Just get the travel insurance anyway!

Ireland does not really have an NHS equivalent. Unless residents are under an income threshold in which case they’re given a medical card, all GP visits are paid for at source. So an EHIC will allow you access to the same services as residents in Ireland but not the same as you’d get in the UK. My advice is to get insurance. It’ll probably cost you a tenner if you go to Martin Lewis’ moneysavingsexpert website. I wouldn’t leave it to chance.

Travel insurance will cost you a few pounds each. It covers you for far more than basic medical treatment, in particular repatriation should someone become very unwell. You'd be stupid to travel without it.

Use an EHIC card and ask to be treated as a public patient (see here ). If you are referred to A&E by a GP you won’t have to pay the €100 charge. If you go directly to A&E you probably will. Bear in mind that a lot of GP surgeries may be closed for some of the Christmas period.

Bear in mind also that travel insurance may be useful for other health related issues eg if you need to be repatriated to UK by air ambulance.

Oh- I assumed you meant health insurance in addition to travel insurance. I'd definitely get travel!

My DH was treated in A&E on holiday in Wexford last year. Scans, x-rays, pain relief and CDs of his x-rays given to us on discharge plus a printout of his notes for our own hospital in the UK. All he had was his UK passport. No bills.

oK, I have applied for the EHIC and will get travel insurance. Do they cover pre-existing conditions such as asthma?

Do you have an EHIC card? If you have one then you'll get free GP and hospital care same as in UK.
I don't think you will get the GP free. It's A&E is covered on emergency basis AFAIK. Ireland gets a lot of dampness at this time of year so your DH should bring his inhaler and medication with him. Enjoy your Christmas.

www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/healthcare-when-travelling-abroad/healthcare-in-ireland/

According to this link, GP care is free, so long as it isn’t a private practice.

www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/healthcare-abroad/healthcare-when-travelling-abroad/healthcare-in-ireland/

This is the arrangement for Ireland, you will get free GP care. Irish residents don't, but a UK resident does because of the agreement between the two countries.

I live in the north and I’ve paid to go to a&e in the south, it has never crossed my mind to get insurance and I spend a lot of time
In the south - prob worth looking into to as I’ve never heard of anyone claiming back an a&e visit from
The NHS.

I’ve never heard of anyone claiming back an a&e visit from
The NHS.

My experience is that it’s done automatically, without any involvement on the part of the patient. My DH had prescriptions from a GP in Ireland, fulfilled at a local pharmacist, with no charge to him.

@Vango all GP surgeries here are private practices 😀😀
@Diddlysquats like someone else mentioned above it can get very damp here and where I am in the mid west Bronchiolitis is always rampant around Christmas time so make sure you have his inhaler with you and just be aware of it.

If you have to attend A&E in Ireland you will have to pay a fee of €100 and that's just to take a seat.

If you need to visit a Doctor it will depend on what that particular surgery charges which could be anywhere between 55/70 euro.

It will probably be cheaper in Mayo.

Please do not come here on holidays, use our hospitals and bugger off without paying the bill.

Do they cover pre-existing conditions such as asthma? Yes as long as you answer all the health questions honestly and disclose all preexisting health conditions.

You will also want to check what excess each policy has - it may be worth paying a couple of quid extra to reduce the policy excess below that of a gp visit.