Please talk to me about private health insurance

[PrunellaModularis]

I used to get mine through my employer but when I was in between jobs, I paid the premium for DH and myself. No pre-existing conditions and it was costing me £290 per month!

New employer doesn't offer it so I need to find something much cheaper.

We're late 50s so that makes it more expensive.

Unfortunately the NHS isn't good enough for many things.
I have cancer and I've been shocked by NHS care, my health insurance has been paying for extra extremely beneficial drugs, a better port option, I have different and better surgery choices and don't have to wait weeks on end for scans to be taken and then more weeks for them to be discussed.
I'm in my late 50s, we have Bupa, it is a shocking price, but they have agreed to everything that I have asked for. And they are good to deal with.
We have always prioritised health insurance over holidays and other luxurys.

On a tangent, I'd also recommend critical illness insurance, the only good thing about having cancer is that it has paid off my mortgage.

There's such variables in cover isn't there! Some don't cover tests for example or you have to check with the insurance company that they'll cover everything.

I remember BUPA had a top level one that covered everything, ongoing tests etc. Not sure if it still exists or the cost, but it was the top level of the policies.

I'm thinking about this too

I currently have Benenden but haven't had to test it thank goodness

Experiences of the NHS seem to be getting worse. I totally take the point about putting money aside each month but if you needed a major operation, that would come out way more expensive wouldn't it?

I'm not sure what to do about it either. I haven't done any quote shopping.

I don't know many people. But my mum knows the entire town across all age groups. We're hearing some awful stories of the NHS and that's including things like cardiac care and cancer care

I didn't used to worry about it too much because there are certain things I would just not have, but there's been two things that happened recently that really shocked me. One relates to ongoing problems with someone who broke their hip. She knew she needed a replacement, but the NHS refused to do it and did some weird surgical pinning job which didn't last. Now she's back on the list for a proper replacement and barely mobile. She was still going running before this happened.

The other is a young work contact of mine actually. He was injured in a hit-and-run and had to have three separate surgeries over the course of time. They seem to have done all of them really badly. It's really worrying. he's descended into a depression now because nobody seems to be getting anything right. He's really wishing he had private healthcare and he seems to get shifted round different consultants in the NHS all the time and has no proper treatment plan.

I had private health with one job and I needed treatment and I saw the same consultant for every appointment. That was ages ago, so I don't know if anything has changed.

He was injured in a hit-and-run and had to have three separate surgeries over the course of time. They seem to have done all of them really badly

The consultants who work in private care also work in the NHS.

@Silveristhecolour I have cancer, and we did have critical illness insurance - not the full amount to cover the mortgage but a substantial amount, getting the payout took time, I'd say 3 months after diagnosis and it only paid out due to malignancy - it's spread to my lymph nodes but had it remained just the primary tumor they would not have paid. People need to be careful with the wording especially as 1 in 2 people now get cancer.

The insurance that gave me the greatest peace of mind was income protection insurance. Approximately £100 a month, and it pays 60% of my gross salary if I can't work due to illness - so it would cover accidents as well as sickness. There's different wait periods, I aligned mine with my work sick policy so as work sick pay runs out and turns to SSP this kicks in.
It's worth noting if you pay for it privately the 60% is not taxed. If work pay AND you're charged BIK on top, they tax whatever monthly payment you get.

For me the NHS have been good, my biggest worry was not when I'd be seen but how I'd pay the bills if I wasn't working, so protecting finances was a higher priority than health insurance.

I know

But he said the different departments couldn't coordinate the care. Somehow I think that would be easier in a hospital rather than a large NHS trust. I know the administrators are battling the systems. It's mad.