To get private health insurance?

[MoiraRoseIsMyQueen]

I do have mild health anxiety, so I’m not sure if this is skewing my view! But is private health insurance worth it? It would be for me, DH, and DS(4). We could afford it - we’ve finished paying for our kitchen so could replace that with £100ish a month for health insurance. I’m concerned that it’s going to take a very long time for the NHS to recover from Covid, and also I feel like it’s worth the money to not have to worry about waiting lists etc.

@Doggybiccys

If you want a cup of tea in a china cup or cosmetic surgery, go private. If you want life or death treatment or treatment by a cancer specialist, NHS all the way.

Given the NHS has the lowest cancer survival rates in Europe I am not sure that is true. More like a death or slightly slower death treatment.

People always say that about nhs. It’s so blinkered. It’s the same specialists that work in both private and nhs! You just get more time, more attention and less waiting! As if anyone’s saying nhs doctors are shit. Ffs. Change the bloody record.

It's much like any insurance, it's invaluable if you need it and a waste if you don't - but you never know which category you will be in.

We've had private cover through work for 25+ years. Never used it for a good 15 years of that. In the last 10 years I've had 3 operations and 4 or 5 other consultant appointments. DH has also had 3 operations and many consultant appointments. And 2 of the kids have had private ops as well.
For us the massive benefit has been the operations - being able to arrange them within weeks rather than waiting months and months. And as a PP said, the GP is often more willing to refer to a specialist if you have private cover.

@MoiraRoseIsMyQueen thanks for your kind wishes. Totally agree with your thinking's
I got my ENT appointment privately, on GP advice; thereafter my ongoing treatment was NHS as the private hospitals, or at least the ones I could access, could not offer the Haematology services.
Absolutely no bad words to say about the NHS, they saved my life, but I needed that kick start

People have mentioned chronic illnesses twice as a good reason to have private care. You should be aware that chronic illness is usually NOT covered. If they can't cure it (or at least try to cure it) then other than diagnosis it isn't covered.
It's not a reason not to have it but there are exclusions you need to be aware of when comparing cover.

I would!

Yes most definitely. Sadly the NHS is dying, after Covid it will not recover and the government will take advantage of this to cut it even further and introduce insurance. I honestly don't see a free NHS for everyone in five years.

another couple in our 50s £195 a month havent used it in years but it is there just in case

If you can afford it, do it
In you do have to use it, hospitals are much nicer, food is definitely and your own private room with a free tv!
Not £££ per day in nhs
and you get treated much better

Doggybiccys
If you want a cup of tea in a china cup or cosmetic surgery, go private. If you want life or death treatment or treatment by a cancer specialist, NHS all the way.

I don’t agree. Yes the same doctors work privately and NHS but privately you choose your specialist so can see anyone who you want to see, who you can identify as being the person who gets your disease and has the experience to deal with it so long as you can travel. You only see your oncologist, not a member of their team, not a locum not someone who doesn’t know you from Adam and who qualified as a specialist 5 minutes ago.

Most importantly they can sometimes have access to treatments the NHS won’t pay for which can make a massive difference to outcomes and quality of life. Trust me, I know this first hand. My partners life was without a doubt extended by years through being a private patient. When it comes to inpatient there are enough nurses to give the kind of nursing care one needs. I’m talking cancer care. There is not a hope in the universe I would use NHS cancer care if I had an option not to.

Reading this thread I have just realised that I have always had private health care through work but have never thought to use it

Nope.

There are lots of variables; some alluded to on here.

'Your choice of doctor'. What criteria are available to you to choose? He seems 'nice'? Some of the best surgeons I know have the bedside manner of an angry ox.

And always seeing the consultant? (Who is often 9-5 NHS, anyway)- the senior reg is often rather more up to date in current practice as he needs to be.

Quick 'cancer care'? No, you'll get a 2WW on the NHS. Go with that.

Legally, you can't dip in and out if the NHS. Yes, it happens, but it shouldn't. Go private for something? Stay private for its duration, 'complications' and all.

Enough nurses? Probably. But, and I am not speaking for all private hospitals, but where I am, Hants, the local private hospitals are staffed by ex-NHS staff towards the end of careers who don't have the stamina or ambition for NHS work.

My point is- it is so rarely 'worth it'.

I'd PAYG, personally, as needed. Not plough hundreds into schemes that rarely cover what you might need.

Car crash? NHS.
Cancer? NHS
Paeds? NHS

In other countries (Germany, Australia), private is far more closely aligned to state; 'ordinary people' pay private. This helps keep it honest.

The 'honesty' in British private health care isn't there.

I have been asked to privately CT scan the brain of a young urban professional man who knew aliens had embedded electrodes in his head. To prove to him none were there. I rejected £50 in refusing.

Someone else shrugged and did so. Funnily enough, no electrodes.

Patient sneered and said 'Yeah, but they're invisible, obviously'.

Why was he not (privately) referred to psychiatry? Because there was a buck to be made.

'Most importantly they can sometimes have access to treatments the NHS won’t pay for which can make a massive difference to outcomes and quality of life'

Your local BUPA isn't about to fly to you Johns Hopkins, realistically, is it?

You'd need absolutely top cover for that to even enter into discussion.

Your '£100 pcm' isn't going to buy that.

My (lovely, RIP) in-laws, in Queensland were utterly seduced by private. They paid a not insignificant premium every month and thus believed they were getting 'the best'.

Their once-a-week-in-town consultant entirely managed a) her bowel cancer, b) his carotid artery stenosis, then separate sarcoma, c) eldest son's stroke.

Some amazing specialisations happening there, Dr C!

With FIL, with his carotid artery reaming, done in a Brisbane private hospital, MIL told me how AMAZING the nurses were, all 'hand picked', only 'the best'.

I didn't say 'Irish backpackers, MIL!' Yes, well qualified (being ROI nurses), but passing through! Like I had been as a Brit backpacker radiographer, offered employment at the same hospital, way earlier with no references or checks whatsoever.

It's very easy to be seduced by smarm and deep pile carpets.

See, Bognor, my MIL got Avastin too. She lived 8 months.

Who knows?

If you can get it for that price then go for it. It's worth the extra money but make sure you look at all the benefits - for example if they provide anything towards dentistry/optician costs then use to the max. I have cover personally although DH and DD don't, I've got a few long running medical conditions and I'm so glad that if anything flares up I can be seen within days rather than months or years - also just had an op (thyroidectomy) done privately, the pre and post operative care has been amazing, including the consultant ringing me personally regularly to see how I've been getting on.. he runs a clinic in an NHS hospital here too and when I saw him there once they were all running around him with the greatest respect!
I have pretty much exhaustive cover and just for me it's around £100 a month, I'm a similar age to you.

'he runs a clinic in an NHS hospital here too and when I saw him there once they were all running around him with the greatest respect!'

Well, that evidently makes him the authority!

😂😂😂😂😂

OP if you or your husband can get it through work then that's the way to go. If you get to the age where you can add cancer cover for yourselves then add it. Also see if you can add cover for possible mental health issues for your child.

The people I know who private healthcare was worth using had:

1. Sports injuries where they required surgery that wasn't ban emergency. Private physio itself isn't that expensive compared to paying for the excess on insurance to get it.
2. Cancer where they lived in an area with a reasonable waiting list so would have likely died without quick treatment. Some insurers offer patients money to use the NHS as it is cheaper to offer you money which can be up to 20K then to treat you.
3. Teenage mental health problems. Though most insurers exclude mental health problems now.
4. ENT issues. I actually live in an area that had a relatively short waiting list for these issues but my last GP practice played games because they didn't want to refer me on the NHS. I needed an NHS referral at the time as any surgery I needed I required to have an intensive care unit on-site not an ambulance ride away due to haemological issues. The only person who picked up on it was the anaesthetist on the day who looked pissed off that it hadn't been mentioned even though I mentioned it to everyone along the chain. (They have now have private wings in my two nearest NHS hospitals). Anyway speaking to other people I know as soon as they said they had private cover they got referred and had surgery privately.
5. Random other things e.g ganglion cysts that the NHS would not treat as they regard them as cosmetic issues in most cases.

Few people I know also have private dental cover as well, and everyone I know who wears glasses and/or contact lenses jurst pays for them as required.

Certain treatment is better my DP's NHS GP has arsed about mismanaging his hypothyroidism not noting the warning signs that he had papillary thymoma ( the inability to raise his voice, the chronic soft cough, the discomfort on swallowing, the thick neck, darkened eye sockets - every single symptom in the book).

He got top notch healthcare in his new job and saw a private GP who immediately referred him out of London as Oxford are the best for papillary thymoma - sadly it was too late 10% of these if not rapidly treated become lymphoma which Oxford quickly picked up and said we are not the people for thyroid Lymphoma you need the Marsden each step of the way he has seen someone within 48 hours. Through out Lockdown he has been monitored and had chemo, I found an enlarged lymph node on the Saturday, he had an MRI on Tuesday.
His health insurance has not questioned or quibbled over a single bill at any point.
If he had stayed in the NHS I honestly don't think he would be here today as the tumour has wrapped itself round his jugular. His GP would have still be going 'oh your T4 is a bit low, but your okay'. When I think just how close I came to losing him it tears me apart.

We stopped it years ago. Put the equivalent money in a savings account and can use it to pay for private treatment if we need it.

Since then we’ve used the nhs for childbirth and some major stuff that wouldn’t have been offered in private (emergency and icu). Haven’t had any cause to use our fund except for a bit of physio.

At £100ppm you’d have £12K after 10 years. Enough for a hip replacement. And £40k+interest by the time you were approaching retirement. We have more as we put away money for our kids too.

We decided to take the risk as we would probably be paying over the odds compared to our risk and family history. In our case we made the right decision. You can never know though, so it depends on your attitude to risk and peace of mind.

We have private healthcare and it's something I rate highly. I like being able to see consultants quickly (on one occasion, the day after I saw my GP), being able to have sufficient time to discuss any concerns with consultants and the speed at which they schedule tests and health issues are resolved (where possible).

Plus, frankly, the nice environment where waiting time is short and there's not the inefficiency that can be frustrating for some NHS patients (based on being an NHS outpatient for a long term health issue at UCL for 25 years).

I don't think the private consultants are any better (and are often the same). I also appreciate that most NHS doctors work very hard indeed but it's a more relaxed experience for me as a patient.

I think it’s a waste of money and you’d be better off getting help with your health anxiety.

I’ve had very good NHS care including during covid.

However. If you tend to visit doctors a lot because of your anxiety, then it might be better to pay for private if it means you’re not taking up appointments that perhaps you don’t need.

Ive always had it. Recently switched from vitality to axa.

As pp havr said you can always put the money in a savings acc then use if you needed it but what happens if something unexpected comes around in a year and you dont have the money to cover it.

If you can afford it I say go for it. I had a bcc 2 years ago and was seen by consultant and removed in 2 days

We have PHI through work (though it's taxable). For years we all had it, and after a company change now only DH and I have it and we decided not to bother with the DC. I've also helped set up PHI benefits for a company (informally).

• More worth it for you and DH than for DC - IME children get seen quickly on the NHS and when we have had to wait, and have tried to use the DC's PHI, many specialist paediatricians don't seem to have private practice, at least outside London.

• NHS great for emergencies. PHI good for new problems when you want something new investigated, scanned and potentially treated, quickly. However... PHI doesn't cover chronic health issues, so any ongoing issue, or any new issue which will be ongoing, is not covered by PHI. In addition, as you're paying privately rather than via a group-negotiated plan, you will probably be underwritten (meaning you have to declare and be assessed for the risk of any pre-existing issues, which won't be covered, or only at high additional cost), and next time you renew, you may find any new problems not covered either. When it's a business benefit they don't usually underwrite individuals so you can get better cover.

• Check what you're actually getting. Cost looks low. Some cheaper policies only pay out a cash benefit if you need treatment, so you pay most of the costs and then get a small amount back.

• It's been really good for me when I've had sports injury, or anything that needs a quick MRI and consultant visit. Or something that might be something serious, but isn't presenting as very urgent. NHS GP always seems relieved when they can refer privately. Usually get an appointment in a couple of weeks.

• You'll usually pay around £200 of the first claim, every year, every person.

• As someone who needs a lot of physio for ongoing issues, I've got on best with PHI policies that have a set budget for physio each year, which doesn't require assessment each time. This is quite rare - most policies only allow physio etc if you have seen a consultant first and it's a post-injury or post-op treatment, usually limited to around 6 sessions over 4 weeks or something.

• Yes most private consultants work in NHS too.

• Don't assume because it's private it will be better than NHS. I know some consultant friends who won't work at particular local private hospitals.

• If you have an op and something goes wrong, or you go downhill at night, you don't necessarily have the backup of an NHS hospital and more senior doctors. Instead they'll call 999 and transfer you to the nearest NHS hospital.

• I've found you do get nicer treatment, consultants have more time to get to know you, consider you more holistically, and explain what is happening in depth.

Personally we think it's worth it (for adults), as long as you won't miss the money. If you're self-employed definitely worth it to avoid being off sick for months whilst on a waiting list.