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Private ins question

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billmiller54
  2/6/2015 22:02 EST

If I move to Ireland and get private health insurance, would it cover me during a short trip back to the US?
Or other countries in the EU?

DonieHoran
  2/7/2015 07:32 EST

I suggest that to get definite information on health cover ,that you send a quick email to any of the following major Health Insurers & a few others that you can Google: VHI Health Insuranance,
Aviva Health Insurance,
Laya Health insurance,
Best Regards,
DonieHoran

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TheYank
  2/7/2015 08:00 EST

Short answer is yes for most insurers. But... there is a limit.

I visited the USA and while my private insurance covered me for emergency, it was not enough for the high US medical costs.

America is the most expensive health care system in the world.

You would need to take out supplementary insurance for the US but probably not for other countries.

I think my health insurance covered me for 1,000,000 outside Ireland but I needed to extend to 5,000,000 for my US visit.

It was in the news some time ago that an Australian women was bitten by a rattlesnake in the US and needed treatment for a few days. Her bill was over 750,000 USD....

billmiller54
  2/7/2015 08:32 EST

Thx.
Health ins is one of my major draws in looking at Ireland. And of course the wonderful ppl.

billmiller54
  2/7/2015 13:37 EST

I know US health care costs are high but $750,000 for a snake bite seems excess excessive.

DonieHoran
  2/7/2015 14:18 EST

In my humble opinion - the benifits of living in Ireland are some fab scenary - lots of variety in terms of lakes ,mountains,blue flag beaches,moderate year round climate with few weather extremes,great food - grown locally, friendly personable people,relatively stable
Government. & improving economy Our Health system could best be described as below par & in need of improvement. On balance - it;s quite a nice place to live !

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billmiller54
  2/7/2015 18:30 EST

Following on Donie's suggestion I found both VHI and Aviva to have cover for two adults best cover package to be about 1800 EU/yr. Aviva offers lower rates if one is willing to increase the excess.
Not bad considering my wife and I pay over $7000 USD for similar cover here at home.
Cover for trips back to the US is covered if less than 180 days.

mmccrane
  2/7/2015 23:05 EST

Donnie - while my wife and I have traveled around Ireland we certainly have more exploring to do! I am a US citizen of Irish descent and we are looking at ways to move there for work and retire some day.
Western Ireland was absolutely beautiful and I understand the South East is as well. Where do you live, why do you live there and what experience do you have for the various parts of Ireland to live? Our preference is a smaller village/town but not too small and remote. As an example, we liked Galway but would not live in the city. Perhaps an outlying village near it. Same of Cork. So Kinsale is appealing perhaps.

Thanks,
Mike

mmccrane
  2/7/2015 23:05 EST

Donnie - while my wife and I have traveled around Ireland we certainly have more exploring to do! I am a US citizen of Irish descent and we are looking at ways to move there for work and retire some day.
Western Ireland was absolutely beautiful and I understand the South East is as well. Where do you live, why do you live there and what experience do you have for the various parts of Ireland to live? Our preference is a smaller village/town but not too small and remote. As an example, we liked Galway but would not live in the city. Perhaps an outlying village near it. Same of Cork. So Kinsale is appealing perhaps.

Thanks,
Mike

DonieHoran
  2/11/2015 19:09 EST

Greetings Mike - apologies for the late response.For a relatively small island on the edge of the Atlantic, Ireland is quite diverse,.
Personally I tend to like open countryside, mountains,lakes & wild Atlantic beaches - hence my preference for the Western & South Western parts of Ireland. Wicklow excepted,,the Eastern part of the country can be a little flat & the beaches,in general,would not be of the same quality as those on the Western coastline.(Wild Atlantic Way)
If there is one single county in Ireland that has most of these desirable features together ,I would say that it is County Kerry,SW Ireland - but that just a personal choice - great lakes around Killarney,fab mountains/lakes around the Ring of Kerry & super Atlantic beaches around North Kerry - Banna,Ballyheigue,Ballybunion etc.I would be in total agreement with you on the benifits of village life within striking distance to larger towns/cities as opposed to properties that are too isolated & remote.
My own preference for living is in the NKerry Atlantic seaside village of Ballyheigue,Co Kerry, which is just 30 mins commute to the capital town of Tralee & 40 mins commute to Killarney & Kerry County Airport at Farranfore.

DonieHoran
  2/11/2015 19:09 EST

Greetings Mike - apologies for the late response.For a relatively small island on the edge of the Atlantic, Ireland is quite diverse,.
Personally I tend to like open countryside, mountains,lakes & wild Atlantic beaches - hence my preference for the Western & South Western parts of Ireland. Wicklow excepted,,the Eastern part of the country can be a little flat & the beaches,in general,would not be of the same quality as those on the Western coastline.(Wild Atlantic Way)
If there is one single county in Ireland that has most of these desirable features together ,I would say that it is County Kerry,SW Ireland - but that just a personal choice - great lakes around Killarney,fab mountains/lakes around the Ring of Kerry & super Atlantic beaches around North Kerry - Banna,Ballyheigue,Ballybunion etc.I would be in total agreement with you on the benifits of village life within striking distance to larger towns/cities as opposed to properties that are too isolated & remote.
My own preference for living is in the NKerry Atlantic seaside village of Ballyheigue,Co Kerry, which is just 30 mins commute to the capital town of Tralee & 40 mins commute to Killarney & Kerry County Airport at Farranfore.

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DonieHoran
  2/11/2015 19:21 EST

Co Kerry - South West Ireland.
Some nice photography of the County can be seen in the following Google : Beautiful County Kerry.

mmccrane
  2/12/2015 00:20 EST

Thank you Donnie. I see that these are all smaller villages but certainly very charming on Google Earth. What are your thoughts on a bit larger town like Killarney or Kenmare? I understand Killarney is a bit touristy as the launch pad to Ring of Kerry and why many prefer Kenmare as a base for both touring and living.
Mike

DonieHoran
  2/12/2015 09:29 EST

Greetings - Killarney is a lovely well kept & classy tourist town, possibly Ireland's most famous - lots of hotels and guest houses on the outskirts & of course a fabulous National Park skirting the lakes, where Mucross House is also situated.On a sunny day you could spend hours and hours in that beautiful lakeside park - it;s truly magnificant..
Killarney is quite a busy & vibrant tourist town - certainly worth a visit. To buy there however, is quite expensive relative to other Co Kerry locations.
Kenmare, in truth, I am not that familiar with.but it has quite a good name & I imagine it would be a very nice place to live . It's on the famous Ring of Kerry so lakes & mountains would be relatively nearby - not sure about beaches ,but in any case they would not be too far away .On the negative side - property prices there also appear to be on the high side & the town itself is quite a distance from the Capital town of Tralee. (hospitals/national transport infrastructure/shopping centres etc) & the County Airport at Farranfore is also quite a distance away. But look , there isn't any single one location that has everything & no matter where you decide to settle in Co Kerry - you are never to far to drive to attractive locations. The village of Caherdaniel ,also on the Ring is quite pretty & also has some nice beaches nearby ,which may be worth further investigation.
Personally ,I tend to opt for seaside village life(within 30 mins or so to a principal town), where I am within minutes of the beach & I use this a base should I wish to travel to other parts of the kingdom - but that;s just my personal preference.
If you were renting , there is a modern attractive housing development in the village of Ballyheigue - a few minutes walk from the beach,just off the main street - it's called Barr Na Sraide - I don't have any personal connection but might be worth consideration/following up with local auctioneers - if you like seaside living/having a base near the Atlantic Ocean..
Good luck !!

mmccrane
  2/14/2015 01:13 EST

Donie - are you a real estate agent?
My wife and I are looking for an experienced agent in Ireland.

Thanks,
Mike
703-955-6545 - USA

DonieHoran
  2/14/2015 04:42 EST

Hi Mike - no I am not a Real Estate Agent or as we tend to call them in I Ireland - an Estate Agent (or an Auctioneer).I am a normal Joe Soap but I do have a life long interest in property & hence I do have an occasional property for sale myself - normally something a bit unique and individual.I can furnish details later to you ,if interested but quite apart from that ,I will gladly assist you with any general information,insofar as I can in regard to Ireland - having spent over 60 years of my life here.
In Ireland most auctioneers tend to operate locally ie County by Couinty & I would know a few in Co Kerry.Some belong to a National chain - like the Sherry Fitzgerald Group,but at the end of the day ,it is really a collection of individual County Auctioneers ,with local knowledge..
If you had no specific location in mind & were looking nationally ,then as you are probably aware the best thing is to go online where most of the properties are listed together ~(other than those being sold privately)~ the 2 main National sites are Daft.ie & Myhome.ie but sometimes if you pick a specific County & Google for properties for sale or rent ,you will be guided to a number of local County Auctioneers. You could also Google Trivot properties which tend to gather/list new property listings.A few other individual sites worth looking at ,particularly where private sellers may tend to list are :Mudhut .com (look for Ireland properties) or Preloved UK/properties/Ireland.
Hope this is of assistance - best of Irish luck.! Donie.

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