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HSF Health plan announces no price increase for cash plans

Thursday 6th January 2011

Leading health cash plan provider, HSF Health Plan has today announced that it has no plans to increase its premiums this year. The company also confirmed that its new GP telephone advice line will continue to be made available free to contributors on all schemes.

Health cash plans provide a low-cost alternative to private medical insurance (PMI) for many Irish families. While a cash plan doesn’t pay private hospital or operation costs, it gives cash back for a wide range of everyday healthcare costs including GP, prescription, consultant, dental, optical, physiotherapy and chiropody, along with grants for hospital stays, birth grants and worldwide accident cover.

In addition, all HSF contributors have free access to a qualified doctor, 24/7 all year round, through a GP telephone advice line. Launched in May 2010, the service has already proved to be popular, particularly over the Christmas period, which saw a 20% increase in usage.

In contrast to the price hikes in PMI premiums and increase in the numbers of people now cancelling their policies, HSF Health Plan saw a rise of over 20% in new contributors in 2010, compared to the previous year.

According to Roy Smith, HSF Health Plan, cash plans are playing an important and growing role in the provision of healthcare in Ireland: “Cash plans are low cost so those who cannot now afford PMI can still manage to pay towards a health cash plan, which provides much-needed help towards healthcare expenses that cannot be avoided. While those who do have PMI can take out a cash plan to complement their private scheme and thereby cover almost every health eventuality.”

Premiums for an HSF Health Plan start at €9.50 per month that covers the contributor, spouse or partner and dependent children up to the age of 21.

HSF Health Plan offers two plans and a range of payment options. HSF’s One Scheme is designed for individuals who wish to claim up to 100 per cent cash refund on their healthcare expenses. The weekly payments start from €3, rising to €12 for maximum cover. The second, the HSF Family Scheme, is designed for families and weekly payments range from as little as €2 to €17 per week. Contributors can either pay through a direct debit from their bank or through the payroll deduction system.

HSF Health Plan covers over 100,000 people in Ireland and over 700 organisations from the voluntary, public and private sectors, offer HSF Health Plan to their staff.

Headquartered in Ennis, Co Clare, HSF Health Plan has been operating in Ireland for over 60 years and is regulated by the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) and the Department of Health and Children.

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