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Some insurance companies such as VHI, Laya, Irish Life, Garda Medical Aids and ESB Medical Provident fund may refund some of the consultation fee when you see Dr Buckley in The Kerry Skin Clinic. However, every company has different rules and many different plans. Some companies may refund no amount towards the consultation fee. Other companies may refund 25% or 50% of the consultation fee. Dr Buckley at has no control over how much can be refunded by the private health insurance companies, if any. Some companies may refund a larger proportion of the fee for a consultant dermatologist based in hospitals and may not refund the same amount of the fee for community-based dermatologists, such as, Dr David Buckley who specializes in dermatology and is on the specialist register of The Irish Medical Council. This is unfair, but we do not make the rules.
Some private health insurance companies may pay some or all of the fee when a procedure is carried out by Dr Buckley, such as, removal of warts and verrucas, a skin biopsy, removal of ingrown toenails and removal of lumps and bumps, including skin cancers. Each company has their own rules and the amount refunded may vary from company to company and from plan to plan.
Private health insurance companies do not pay for the instruments and consumables used in a surgical procedure; neither do they pay for an assistant that Dr Buckley may require for the procedure, for transferring specimens to the hospital for analysis and relaying the results to the patient three weeks later, if histology is required. These fees are collectively known as a “facility fee”. Dr Buckley may have to charge a facility fee in addition to billing the private health insurance company for the procedure fee which can vary from anything from €40.00 to €100.00 depending on the complexity of the procedure.
If a patient attends Dr Buckley for a consultation and an examination, a consultation fee will apply. If the patient also has a procedure carried out in the same visit, a procedural fee will also apply which may be covered by the private health insurance companies.
