Megan, was the VHI policy as cheap as Aviva? And when you say Aviva, do you mean Irish Life Health? Also, I don't know your immigration status but if Stamp 0, is Aviva and VHI acceptable to INIS?

Linda, what do you mean when you wrote "the only provider I’ve found is Cigna"? Is CiGNA the only insurer that meets the INIS requirements? Also, you mentioned "your own US insurance". Is US insurance acceptable to INIS? ALso may I ask if you will keep your US policy plus add an Irish one?

I am looking for a way to obtain health insurance that is 1) acceptable to INIS, 2) reasonable in cost and 3) offers coverage outside of Ireland when I travel such as Europe and the US. I wonder if there is a travel health policy that will cover any gap in geographic coverage for up to 6 months per year?

I received a quote from CIGNA for their cheapest Global Silver plan for a premium of $797 per month which is a lot higher than I am hearing here. Not sure why. This quote includes inpatient, outpatient, medical evacuation, health & well-being, vision and dental. I am a single person, 60 years of age with no preexisting conditions or other special circumstances. Is anyone using a broker to get such good premiums?

Thanks for your response and good questions. By "only provider is Cigna" I mean the only provider that will cover us from day one, and not with a six-month waiting period was Cigna. The Irish-based insurers require you to be resident for 6 months.

By "our own insurance" I mean our US-based medical insurance that covers us worldwide. We happen to have a "PPO" policy which covers us, but only 80% of costs. This is excellent coverage for the States, but the solicitor suggested that we make sure we have "full cover" hence the additional insurance from Cigna. We also were quoted a Silver plan, but we didn't need anything but the hospital cover, so it was much less than what you have. Also, we're 5-10 years younger than you, so that's certainly a factor.