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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be considering private health insurance?

42 replies

FemaleDilbert · 05/07/2018 12:16

Feel a bit bad posting this on NHS 70th birthday!!

We are considering whether we should have private health insurance.

Myself and 2DCs with no (known!) serious health issues. Our joint income is around £50k gross pa, so we are comfortable but not to the extent we wouldn’t notice an extra £60-£70 per month outgoing.

Do most people have private health insurance? Is it a sensible idea?

OP posts:
Original poster
FemaleDilbert · 05/07/2018 12:17

Haha, meant to say ‘myself, DH and 2 DCs’.

Poor DH Grin

OP posts:
Racecardriver · 05/07/2018 12:17

It is really really stupid not to have it if you can afford it. If one of you falls seriously ill you are absolutely screwed relying on the NHS.

Lou573 · 05/07/2018 12:21

Wouldn’t be without private insurance to be honest. I’m absolutely pro NHS and wish it worked but past experience has taught me not to rely on it if you at all don’t have to. There’s a lot of costs I’d cut before our health insurance.

cestlavielife · 05/07/2018 12:22

What will 70£ actually cover? Mine is a lot more through work and I have to pay 20% of put patient appts that adds up to a lot in case of serious illness. Every blood test and scan costs me £20 or more....that can add up. Check.what is covered.

Having said that I get money back for every night spent in nhs hospital care ie saving the insurers money.

Waspnest · 05/07/2018 12:26

We as a family have private health insurance through DH's work but I think we're in a small minority. Do I think it's worth it? Well I think things happen more quickly and if you need overnight stays the accommodation/food etc. is probably nicer BUT unless you go to a private GP you still need an NHS GP referral (and some are bizarrely reluctant to refer privately as DH has found with his kidney stone problems - you'd think they'd be glad to have one less person using the NHS but it hasn't worked like that for him) and you usually have to pay an excess for treatment. Oh and some treatment isn't even covered.

If DH didn't get it through work I don't think we'd bother to be honest.

FiloPasty · 05/07/2018 12:28

Isn’t it £60-70 per person?

PurpleNailVarnish · 05/07/2018 12:52

We have it through DH's & my employment, in the 15/20 years we've had it we've never used it.

I should lead by saying that I have always been a strong supporter of the NHS.

And then...
I became ill early this year and was admitted to hospital for a week, some tests were performed and I was released as an outpatient for others. When the waiting in some significant pain to see a consultant turned into months we eventually took the decision to use the medical insurance. The pain and the illness has limited my life.

So I saw a private consultant within a week of contacting them, I've had my first lot of tests and the second are due next week.

By coincidence, I received a call from the NHS hospital called this morning to offer me my initial consultant appointment in 6 weeks time. That's for an initial appointment before they would even refer me for further tests.

I could go on about the political machinations behind the scenes which aim to privatise the NHS but sadly this is how it is now.

My advice would be if you can afford it buy a private policy, but do your research carefully.

FlyingElbows · 05/07/2018 13:03

It's something I'm considering too. I've not needed to see a gp for years but do now. I phoned on Tuesday to be told that I was unable to make a pre-booked appointment but would have to phone every day to see if an appointment was available. How is anyone with a job or anyone with childcare to organise supposed to manage with that system? I would happily pay to see a gp privately and after watching poor Mr Elbows wait over a year for surgery I'm seriously considering health insurance. Mr Elbows' post-op consultation is at the end of this month, more than ten months after his operation! It's been put back five times.

theluggageslegs · 05/07/2018 13:09

After an appalling experience within the NHS earlier this year, we now have private health insurance. (Basic things that should have happened never did and my partner was extremely ill as a result.)
I wish I could say that was down to austerity but I had an entirely separate shitty experience at the same hospital, different department 18 years ago so mismanagement seems rife, although obviously the current underfunding can’t be helping.

MrsPatmore · 05/07/2018 13:44

Can I ask who you're with and how much it costs please?

Topseyt · 05/07/2018 13:57

We have private insurance via DH's employer.

I used it once years ago when I needed an urgent tonsillectomy (repeated quinsy) and the NHS waiting list was months long.

I would consider using it again when needed.

I am a supporter of the NHS, but it is a system under huge pressure. I also have family who have had very poor experiences recently, so I like the safety net of private insurance. I think it is all we can do really.

Blobby10 · 05/07/2018 14:20

I have medical insurance through my employer - if it takes the pressure off the NHS and frees up appointments for others then I am Ok with it.

However, I understand that any emergency treatment still has to go through poor old A & E before being treated privately and it doesn't necessarily get done in the private hospital so may be taking up NHS bed and using NHS nurses which is wrong!

I dont believe throwing money at the NHS is going to help - yes, the nurses and those working on the front line deserve huge pay increases, but just giving money to trusts will mean more managers doing stupid surveys instead of controlling things like suppliers not overcharging or repairs being done in the most cost effective and timely way instead of taking forever on an hourly rate "because its the government paying".

TroubledLichen · 05/07/2018 14:32

I had it the entire time I lived in the UK from birth to my late 20s. On my DFather’s work policy, then my own, then DH’s. The only thing it’s ever paid out for is when I had my tonsils out at age 4. When I had DD I wanted to go private but insurance didn’t cover that so had to pay out of pocket. DD had it when we were in the UK too, when she went to the private GP low and behold it wasn’t covered so that was out of pocket too. I know it’s there for the big, hope it never happens stuff but when I think about the premiums I’ve paid it doesn’t seem like great value. Still wouldn’t be without it if I ever moved back to the UK though.

Arjunsummer · 05/07/2018 14:51

We don't have private health insurance but do pay for private treatment when needed, I.e. minor operations - tonsils out, tooth removed under general anaesthetic, kidney stone operation.

hibbledibble · 05/07/2018 14:54

It is really really stupid not to have it if you can afford it. If one of you falls seriously ill you are absolutely screwed relying on the NHS.

What an absolute load of twaddle. I wasn't going to comment but had to correct this misconception. If you are seriously ill, it is far safer to be in an NHS hospital. Private hospitals have very poor out of hours cover, which has resulted in at least one unnecessary death. If you are seriously ill in a private hospital, they would most likely call an ambulance to take you to an NHS hospital.

Private health insurance is useful for bypassing waiting lists for seeing a specialist, investigations or minor surgical procedures. It is absolutely not useful if you are seriously ill.

Calledyoulastnightfromglasgow · 05/07/2018 14:59

Mmmm I get mine through work. It’s great if you need an urgent referral for, say, a boob lump. You will be seen in a week.

After that, I’m not so sure.

DH was ill last year and used his insurance and they rushed through CT scans and endoscopes at great cost to his insurer and worry to us. If they had simply repeated his blood test it would have been normal and he could have avoided it all. His NHS GP would have been auch better option.

I think I would have some easy cash saved for getting urgent tests and wouldn’t bother with it myself. That said, I haven’t needed it for any chronic condition so don’t know how useful it is.

massistar · 05/07/2018 15:09

I have it got it through work for all the family. It's been a godsend for injury prone DH who's used it for 2 knee ops, a shoulder op, hernia op and countless Physio sessions. Most of which he'd have waited a year on through the NHS.

However when I had skin cancer last year the NHS was superb.

Cath2907 · 05/07/2018 15:13

Work provide mine. It meant we could have my daughters tonsils removed in a private hospital after the NHS just seemed unwilling or unable to see it needed doing. We got the appointment to see the ENT consultant from the NHS about 6 months AFTER she'd had her tonsils out privately and the waiting list for the op after the appointment is another few months. My nephew waited a year from GP referring him.

Otherwise I haven't had to use it touch wood. The NHS is stretched and private insurance is a sensible precaution if you can afford it.

Xenia · 05/07/2018 15:14

I had it via work and then paid once I became self employed but we are just about never ill (I have seen my GP once in 12 years!!!!!!) so I stopped and now I just pay as and when a child needs something the NHS cannot fix and it is much much cheaper doing it my way BUT I can afford that.

bestcatintheworld · 05/07/2018 15:20

Absolutely screwed without? Thanks for that. Just got my cancer diagnosis and have no private health insurance. Thanks god I don't believe you.

lastnightidreamtofpotatoes · 05/07/2018 15:34

I went to visit a friend recently whose appendix burst in A&E after waiting 4 hours to see a doctor. I'm a massive advocate of the NHS (my dc's life has been saved numerous times and lots of surgeries) but the hospital situation seemed extremely stretched and depressed. I would consider health insurance for myself as a result.

For those who pay for it (rather than through an employer) how much do you pay and what does it cover?

Whyiseveryonesoangry · 05/07/2018 15:57

My husband recently had a heart op on the NHS. A neighbour had exactly the same op a few months earlier, claiming on his private medical insurance.
They both waited the same time for the op.
They were both at the same hospital.
They both had the same surgeon.
Only difference was, the neighbour had a private room, my husband was in a room with three other patients.

EricDier · 05/07/2018 16:04

We have private insurance through my husband's employment. Speaking as an NHS GP, I'm very glad that we've got it.

For my daughter's acne, she'd have been been waiting up to a year to see an NHS consultant. Going private she had an appointment within a week and soon got the medication she needed to clear it up.

My parents also have it, thank goodness. It meant my mother didn't have to wait up to a year for her cataract operation. My father also went private when he had cancer, and, speaking as someone who had worked in the NHS their entire career, I can't deny that he got far better care than my cancer patients who I refer to the NHS.

cestlavielife · 05/07/2018 19:03

Going private she had an appointment within a week

But you could have paid a one off consultation fee to do that and that would have been less than a year of premiums

cestlavielife · 05/07/2018 19:05

And the fee may less paying direct yourself