New private health co-op set up by former VHI director

A new private health co-op whereby members can build up their own private healthcare fund by buying €50 healthcare coin vouchers was launched on Monday.

The Letsbuyhealthcare portal is described as a "one-stop shop" for private health with a growing range of accredited medical providers. The portal is for the 20 per cent of people in Ireland who do not have private insurance or a medical card.

The new venture has been set up by David Allen, former director of finance of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, and John Looney, a former director with VHI. It is intended for the co-op to also become an "advocate for self-payers".

The portal allows families or individuals to use their own dedicated healthcare fund to pay for treatment. More than 100 patients have already used it.

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The product is not-for-profit and any net investment gains on the overall fund will be re-distributed back to the co-op members by way of more healthcare coin vouchers.

It also provides access for people to private healthcare through the portal with a network of private hospitals, GPs and other clinics around the country.

The portal facilitates employers to gift healthcare coin vouchers to any employee each year, tax-free, up to a value of €500.

Any commercial arrangements are between healthcare providers and Letsbuyhealthcare so, other than a “small joining on fee”, there are no annual charges or annual premiums levied on members.

The group has already begun to lobby the Government for an increase in the tax breaks given to employers for any reward vouchers that are exclusively to meet an employee’s healthcare costs.

‘Secure scheme’

Speaking at the launch, Mr Allen said: “Now for the first time there is a specific, safe and secure scheme that helps people plan for their own healthcare costs into the future.

“Everyone can now have their own separate family fund dedicated to private healthcare – and nothing else.

“Something that is built up over time to meet future routine GP and community-based medical services as well as trying to allow for any serious problems that potentially might need a consultation or day-case, inpatient or even a residential stay.

“People can now weigh up the likelihood of the family needing to access either public or private healthcare in the future, the likelihood of needing community or hospital care, the likelihood of needing psychological or physical care, or the likelihood of needing emergency or elective care and then try to decide, plan and budget accordingly, without any concerns that current age or current healthcare history will somehow be penalised.

“Importantly, this can all now be done in a way that is extremely simple and flexible to suit all pockets and can also be topped up by employers availing of tax breaks. It’s about choice. It’s about spreading the cost risk of private healthcare in a fundamentally different way to the traditional model.”