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Health & Wellness

We take your health seriously. That’s why we offer a range of benefits to help you deal quickly and easily with any concerns you may have, while helping to catch any health issues before they become too serious.

Employee Assistance Programme

The Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provides immediate support and advice to anyone who may be experiencing difficulties either at work or at home. The EAP service is free, confidential, impartial and available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

The EAP service offers telephone and video counselling as well as face-to-face counselling when appropriate. It is also available to any immediate family members over the age of 16 who are residing with HPE team members. To use the EAP service, call the helpline number on 01 5625150. 

Click here to find out more.

Did you know?

Employee Assistance Programme

The EAP service is provided through the Irish Life Health "Healthy Minds" programme under your medical insurance policy. Healthy Minds is accessible via their virtual health platform, ‘MyClinic’. This service provides professional counselling, along with expert advice and information on a whole range of issues including:

  • Abuse (physical, mental, sexual) 
  • Addiction (drugs, alcohol etc.) 
  • Anxiety 
  • Bereavement 
  • Bullying and harassment advice 
  • Disorders (mental, eating, drugs) 
  • Domestic (marital, relationship) 
  • Health & safety advice 
  • Health information 
  • Phobia 
  • Self esteem 
  • Stress 
  • Trauma 
  • Financial information

Private Medical Insurance

HPE cares about your health. That’s why our Private Medical Insurance scheme with Irish Life Health offers a range of medical plans, so you can select a level of cover in myChoice that best suits you and your family. 

Children covered by the benefit must be under 18, and students must be between 18 and 20 and in full time education, otherwise they are considered young adults and the cost of cover will depend on their age. No other adult dependants may be covered under the medical scheme (i.e. parents).

Per regulation, if you are over 35 years of age and taking Private Medical Insurance with no previous cover or after a break in cover, you are normally required to make a Lifetime Community Rating (LCR) late entry loading payment directly to the medical insurance provider. This is equivalent to a 2% loading for every year above the age of 34. Please click on the LCR pop up below for important information about this requirement.

Private Medical Scheme

Cover levels

Standard: 4D Health 2
Flexibility: 4D Health 4
Or
4D Health 5
Or
Opt Out

Personalised Packages (Extra Dimensions)

Personalised Packages allow you to customise your medical plan at no extra cost. Each member receives a choice of two packages under the 4D Health 2 plan, three packages under the 4D Health 4 plan and four packages under the 4D Health 5 plan. 

For selections made from 1st April 2024 onwards, default Personalised Packages won’t be pre-assigned to your selected plan(s) nor will you be able to select Personalised Packages by contacting Irish Life Health. All personalised packages must be selected via myChoice at the same time as when you select your plan(s), up to the total number of packages permitted per plan.

Further information about this benefit is available inside your myChoice account.

Opting out

You may ‘opt out’ via myChoice to receive cash back, provided you have alternative medical insurance. The amount that is released to you will be the value of your own cover and not that of your dependants. 

Remember that if you take out private medical insurance earlier in life, and retain it, you will pay lower premiums compared to someone who joins after the age of 35. Refer to the Lifetime Community Rating pop-up.

Lifetime Community Rating

On 1st May 2015 there was a change to the community rating system for health insurance premiums. From this date individuals above the age of 34, who never had health insurance, would be charged an additional loading on their health insurance premium. The loading equates to 2% for each year above the age of 34 e.g. if a new member is 40 years old, with no previous insurance, he/she will pay the loading for 6 years (2% x 6 years = 12% loading above the standard premium).

Important Note: Please contact the private medical insurance provider to check whether this payment is required from you. HPE cannot waive this requirement nor pay it on your behalf. 

If you do not contact the provider, the loading will be assumed, and you will not be on cover until the payment has been processed. During this time, any payroll deductions applicable to your medical selection will continue regardless of whether the LCR late entry loading has been paid and whether or not the provider has placed you and any relevant dependants on medical cover.

Please refer to the ‘Employee Guide to LCR’ document available inside myChoice.

Dental

We offer a range of cover options for you and your family to take care of all your dental needs. There are 3 options to choose from, which offer an increasing scale of cover. Full details on the different levels are available in myChoice. 

Reimbursement is on a fixed percentage basis, depending on the treatment undertaken and there is an annual maximum level of treatment that is covered. There is no waiting period for any procedure.

Dental

Dental Insurance, provided by DeCare dental, helps cover the financial burden of dental treatment whether that be routine and/or unexpected emergencies. 

Dental Insurance helps by providing; 

  • Immediate cover for check-ups, cleaning & x-rays 
  • Immediate cover for emergency treatment 
  • Excellent benefits for expensive treatments, like fillings, extractions, root canals, crowns and orthodontics.

You can choose one of the following 3 plans for yourself and any dependants: Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Plus.

Further information about this benefit is available inside your myChoice account.