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Important Updates

Below we’ve summarised some important changes to your benefits that will take effect from 1st January 2027. Please scroll down further for more detailed information and refer to the resources available inside your myChoice account.

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.

To access the information from last year, please click here.

Private Medical Insurance

The Horizon plans have been enhanced and now include:

  • Essential Health Check benefit, (providing biometric, blood and lifestyle insights measuring key blood markers, BMI, blood pressure, sleep quality, physical activity and nutrition to help you identify potential health risks and improve your overall wellbeing - for just €50 as an Irish Life Health member).
  • Mammogram benefit with the first visit fully covered.
  • Dexa Scan benefit with the first visit fully covered.
  • Enhanced postnatal domestic cleaning support, covering up to €60 for a two-hour cleaning session, up to three times per year.

Benefits removed/no longer available:

  • Post operative benefit 

Changes to benefit cover:

  • Exogen therapy benefit is no longer available as a stand-alone benefit, however, it is available under inpatient cover for both the Sports Surgery Clinic and Blackrock Clinic.

Please refer to the latest Table of Cover and Membership Handbook for full details and eligibility criteria. These can be viewed in the myChoice portal by clicking on Benefit Information, Health & Wellness, Private Medical Insurance, View benefit information, Contacts & Documents).

If you do not choose your Personalised Packages for each person with PMI cover, the default Personalised Packages of You Extra and Sports Extra will be in place until the next renewal. 

  • NOTE: Changes to your Personalised Packages can only be made during the Annual Enrolment Window each year, with the exception of maternity extra and fertility extra which can be updated at any point throughout the year.
  • Default Personalised Packages for child dependants are ‘Children Extra’ and ‘Sports Extra’. The ’Children Extra’ Personalised Package mainly offers benefits designed for children under the age of 18. If you have selected this package for a dependant aged 18 or over, you should review whether it remains appropriate and consider selecting an alternative Personalised Package during the Annual Enrolment window.
  • If you opted out of PMI previously, please note that this selection will not roll over. If you wish your PMI Opt Out to continue, you must select Opt Out during the Annual Enrolment Window each year, otherwise you will be defaulted into the standard PMI cover.
  • Any member paid premiums for upgraded cover or non-company paid member (such as child dependants over 21 years), can be paid for by personal direct debit (member split billing) to Irish Life Health, as these options are not available on myChoice, and will not be processed via payroll.
  • You must contact Irish Life Health directly if you wish to upgrade your health plan to a different level of cover and pay for any non-company paid members at renewal.

To avoid co-payments which may be charged for some treatments/surgeries, employees can upgrade to a higher plan at point of need. You need to contact the Irish Life Health support team to upgrade at the point of need, prior to any treatment and you pay Irish Life Health the difference in cost of the higher plan and return to your standard plan.

Guide on upgrading at point of need and waiver.

Step 1:

  • Upcoming procedure where co-payment applies.
  • Contact Irish Life Health to discuss alternative level of cover to reduce / remove co-payment.

Step 2:

  • Choose the alternative level of cover in advance of admission to the hospital.
  • Additional premium for the upgrade in cover can be made via personal direct debit to Irish Life Health.

Step 3:

  • Following hospital admission/procedure contact Irish Life Health to change back to original level of cover.
  • Do not forget to downgrade after the treatment.

IMPORTANT: Should you choose to change cover for you or your dependants with Irish Life Health, you will be doing so at your own discretion, without any obligations or liability to HPE.

 

Reminder: Health Screenings

HPE Ireland team members enrolled in the HPE Private Medical Insurance scheme 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 scheme; 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 individual policy number for their HPE Ireland Private Medical Insurance plan (in the format “VIVGXXXXXX”).

In addition to the discount, members of the HPE Private Medical Insurance scheme 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).