Important Updates
Below we’ve summarised some important changes to your benefits that will take effect from 1st January 2024. Please scroll down further for more detailed information and refer to the resources available inside your myChoice account.
- Health Screening: This benefit plan is being suspended.
- Private Medical Insurance: Enhancements have been added to the current scheme.
- Leisure Travel Insurance: Please remember that Covid-19 exclusions continue to apply in the T&C’s of the Leisure Travel Insurance policy.
As a general rule, when you select your benefits please make sure you are comfortable with the cost before you commit to your choices. Whilst every effort is made each year to negotiate market competitive group rates for all HPE benefit plans on offer, there can be instances in which premiums for some benefits have risen due to inflation and supply chain pressures, as well as post-pandemic utilisation trends in the benefits marketplace.
Update: Health Screenings – Suspended until further notice
The Health Screening benefit with Mater Private is being withdrawn for 2024 and will not be available for selection in myChoice.
As an alternative, HPE Ireland team members enrolled in the Private Medical Insurance plan with Irish Life Health, can avail of a discounted Executive health screen at Charter Medical with a 29% discount. The health screen can take up to 2 hours and will include a personal review including medical history, lifestyle and nutrition, a physical examination including monitoring blood pressure and BMI, and clinical investigations where required.
The discounted Executive health screen offering is only available to members of the HPE Private Medical Insurance plan; it does not operate via salary sacrifice and is not available in your myChoice account. Team members will need to book the screen and pay Charter Medical directly.
To learn more about this offering, check the screening locations and book in a screen, please call Irish Life Health or visit the following link: https://www.irishlifehealth.ie/benefits/member-benefits/health-screening. The discount will be applied at the point of sale and members must remember to provide their HPE Ireland Private Medical Insurance individual policy number (in the format “VIVGXXXXXX”).
In addition to the discount, members of the HPE Private Medical Insurance plan can also claim a reimbursement on the cost of the Executive health screen via the Irish Life Health claims portal, making sure to submit the receipt within 6 months of when the respective policy year expires (31 Dec).
Update: Private Medical Insurance – Recent enhancements to the current scheme
Care Connect:
Irish Life Health, in partnership with Centric Health, introduced Care Connect in 2022 to deliver targeted health programmes to members with certain chronic conditions. Eligible members can now access two care programmes available as part of the Care Connect service:
- The Heart Care Programme – designed for members who’ve been diagnosed with chronic heart failure, providing them with equipment to measure their blood pressure, heart rate and weight twice a week and record their results using a specially designed app.
- COPD Programme – designed for members who’ve been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), providing them with equipment to record their lung function, blood pressure and heart rate at home once or twice a week and share their data via an easy-to-use app.
The Care-Connect clinical team will monitor members’ recordings and make recommendations if necessary. The Care-Connect nurses will work with members to manage their medications more efficiently at home and keep their GP and/or specialist physician up to date.
Female Health Consultation:
Irish Life Health now give members direct access to GPs who are specialists in Female Health. This is an important extension to their existing MyClinic virtual hub which offers access to a range of clinical experts GPs, physios, counsellors, speech & language therapists and much more.
The Female Health Consultation benefit gives members access to a 20-minute in-depth video consultation with a specialist GP who can give advice on areas such as menstrual health, contraception, fertility and menopause. Members will be asked to complete a short pre-consult questionnaire and can also receive a post-consultation treatment plan with recommended next steps to help. To book an appointment for a Female Health Consultation, members can go to the MyClinic section of their online account.
Please check the Table of Benefits and Member Handbook for your selected plan and contact Irish Life Health for more information about the above enhancements.
Update: Leisure Travel Insurance – Covid-19 exclusions apply to policy terms and conditions
This is a reminder to all Ireland team members that Covid-19 exclusions continue to apply under the terms and conditions of our Leisure Travel Insurance policy. Before you actively select (or passively ‘roll-over’) this benefit for the 2024 plan year, we encourage you to carefully review the insurer’s statement below as well as the benefit description and policy documents for this scheme, all of which are available inside your myChoice account.
“The policy will not cover any claims directly or indirectly arising from, relating to or in any way connected with COVID-19 or any mutation or variation of COVID-19 except for Medical Expenses and Repatriation claims provided you are not travelling in, to or through any area to which the Department of Foreign Affairs has allocated a security status of “Avoid non-essential travel” or “Do not travel”. We will not therefore cover claims relating to any inability to travel, any decision not to travel or any changes to travel plans as a result of COVID-19 or any mutation or variation of Covid-19.”