Video consultations, cash back deals and other ways to cut those rising GP bills

Lucky Leitrim is not only the location where a recent winning Lotto ticket was sold. It also has the cheapest GP visits in Ireland – as low as €35, an Irish Daily Mail survey found two months ago.

But the rest of us non-Lottowinning patients might find it hard to pay our doctors’ bills.

These can range upwards to €65 per visit, with an average of €53 clocked up in Dublin.

That’s not too bad if you’re a hale and hearty twentysomething with no kids. But parents and people with health issues who have to traipse down to the GP every other week will be hard-pressed.

If you have a good midrange corporate health plan like Laya’s Simply Connect Plus - you’ll get half of your GP bills back. Otherwise, you can fall back on new phone and online consulting services now offered by every health insurer – which many people aren’t even aware of.

Here’s a round-up:

LAYA

GPlive is Ireland’s first ‘sevendays-a-week, out-of-hours video GP consultation service to be offered by an Irish health insurer’, according to Laya.

The new service, through Webdoctor, offers face-to-face consultations online. A spokesman says: ‘Irish GPs review [your case]. Your repeat prescription [for six months] is then posted to your address.’

Eligible prescriptions include those for contraception, cholesterol, cystitis, asthma, malaria, smoking, hair loss, erectile dysfunction and weight loss.

‘For anything not on the list, you can use a GPlive consult to talk to a GP who can issue a prescription if required and medically suitable,’ the spokesman says.

Many Laya schemes offer a number of free GPlive consultations, while all members get a 20% discount, paying between €22.40 and €28 for GPlive and around €20 for repeat prescriptions.

Laya also provides phone consultations with GPs, nurses and physiotherapists. The general helpline number is 1890 100 030.

VHI

VHI Swiftcare clinics treat a range of non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries with lower costs for VHI members, depending on their policy.

There’s also a 24/7 nurseline (1850 247 724), a physio-line, a second opinion service for children and a one-to-one midwife telephone service for anxious parentsto-be. The VHI has also done a deal with Lloyds’ online doctor service to provide a free consultation to its members worth €25.

And it has worked out another good deal for certain members with US eyecare giant VSP, says expert Dermot Goode of Totalhealthcover.ie.

IRISH LIFE HEALTH

(Formerly Aviva) Customers can get GP consultations through the smartphone app ’Babylon’.

Most ILH plans offer this service, but the number of free consultations varies depending on how good the plan is. There’s also a BackUp physio plan for all members with back or neck problems (1890 717 717), and a general physio service on some plans. You can pay €50 for eight visits, or €100 for 16 visits.

GLOHEALTH (Now owned by Irish life and soon to be merged with Irish Life Health)

GloDoc, available on all plans, promises unlimited access to a GP over the phone 24/7 and through online face-to-face consultations from 8.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.

With GloDoc (1890 100 049) you can get prescriptions sent to your local pharmacy.

Another plus with GloHealth is that you can mix and match packages to prioritise whatever suits you – such as maternity, sports, optical or dental cover.

Dermot Goode welcomes all of these services as a bonus for customers that could save money and boost your healthcare. ‘Yet many don’t even know they exist,’ he says. ‘There was some resistance to online or telephone consultations but for repeat or minor ailments, or if you’re a busy worker or mum who can’t make it to the GP, it’s very useful.’

GPs had initially objected to such services – and there are good reasons to be wary of their limitations. But where suitable they are valuable additions to our healthcare options. A GP professional representative body recently launched a service of its own, which is I suppose is proof it can work.