To ask if you have private health insurance?

[CherryValley5]

Do you have it? Would you get it?

Having just received DD’s (eye watering) PHI renewal it struck me that 10 years ago it would not have even entered my mind to insure a teenager, nowadays it would feel like borderline neglect if I cancelled her policy and instead made her sit on endless NHS waiting lists. I am insured too through work and would never take another job that didn’t offer it. Just sitting here in disbelief that something I would’ve called a luxury not too long ago now feels like an essential for quality of life. It’s so depressing!

I had a knee problem. I tried the GP about 5 times and had an X ray. Apparently ,it was mild osteoarthritus and I was given a few physio exercises. It got much worse to the point that I couldn't sleep and couldn't really walk. I tried my GP about 4 times with no response and at the last request for an appointment they texted me to go to A and E. I remembered that I had been added to a family healthcare plan for BUPA. I had a consultant appointment within a week and I had some steriod injections and some one on one physio. It was not osteoarthritus but inflamation which was causing the pain. I cannot tell you the improvement in my quality of life. I was in so much pain and a simple injection and some exercises has fixed it. I think the NHS is amazing but can't deliver for the vast majority of people anymore. I think you are very much in the minority if you have a good GP these days.

Also, my friend had just joined BUPA when she discovered she had breast cancer. This sadly came back a couple of years later in Covid. She was still having regular checkups (her NHS appointments had been paused). They realised the cancer was back in lockdown. If she had only had her NHS checkups she would have been dead before she was seen again. Private healthcare literally saved her life.

What’s luxurious about paying for private health insurance?? Erm … having the means to pay for private health insurance? Please get your head out your arse.

Yes I have it through work as a benefit in kind. I've used it a few times for small treatments that the NHS don't even provide anymore like Chalazion removal. I'm really pleased I have it as I have a high cancer risk.

No and No? Though I had the option through work.
I've concentrated on healthy diet and exercise instead.

I wish I had a luxurious life, or that my head was up my arse. I work 6 days per week, haven’t bought clothes, any luxuries for myself or been on holiday etc in years and live pay check to pay check - apologies that I think my child’s health and future is something to prioritise.

The fact is that more and more people who cannot really afford it are being forced into using private healthcare due to the state of the NHS. Ignoring this and pretending it doesn’t happen is blatant refusal to see the magnitude of the situation or how bad it has gotten. Would you say that the people using up their entire life savings or remortgaging their home to pay for a new hip live a life of luxury too? I’m sure they’d disagree.

If they own a property with enough equity to remortgage and savings to that amount, then yes it’s a luxury. Please go and educate yourself on the financial state of the vast majority of the nation.

Do you think people who can’t afford it do not prioritise their children’s health? If so, this is more woefully ignorant than I first thought.

Pay for it by all means, who cares, but accept it’s a luxury to do so.

Not going to happen it you're detained under mental health legislation. Totally impractical anyway. Perusing the insurers it appears 28 days is the max inpatient stay covered. 60/70 + day admissions aren't unusual for episodes of severe psychiatric illness.

My company insurance scheme actually covers up to 90 days of MH inpatient treatment per year.

Yes, fortunately have never had to use it but both mine and DD’s policies cover up to 90 days in MH inpatient facilities per year.

@BeatenbySassafras We have private ambulance cover too so definitely not out of the realms of possibility or awfully impractical - life I’ve said, we’ve travelled far for treatment before and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if it meant better care/outcome.

Yes, we're all covered through my partners work.

100%. Wouldn't be without it now. Literally saved my life after the NHS totally failed me. The thought of ever not having it is truly terrifying.

You don't think you'll need it... until you do.
Seriously ill health often comes totally out if the blue and, in my case, did.
I'd strongly advise you look into it.

Yes, we have 2 policies through 2 different providers (it’s allowed where we are). Use them all the time.

No. None of us have needed it, though we have paid privately for counselling. I'd struggle to do it both mentally and financially.

Absolutely yes, for me & my children. Had my parents & young nephew been insured they'd likely still be alive today, so I regard it as an essential bill. I have zero trust in NHS services in my area.

Have your opinion, I’ll have mine. I believe that people having to financially stretch themselves (including me - insurance shortfall last week for pain management treatment now means that I have a maxed out credit card..) for timely care which should be available via their national insurance is a disgrace, not luxurious in the slightest. I feel that ignoring the situation is woefully ignorant.

My point is that I would feel neglectful if I cancelled something that I can (just about) afford which has given DD so much hope and better quality of life over the last years. I wasn’t referring to anybody else.

Why all the projection? And fallacies?
PP wasn't saying those who can't afford it 'don't' prioritise their children's health.
They're simply giving their views on private healthcare.

Unfortunately in 2024 it's not a luxury I'm afraid, unless you count not suffering in pain a luxury instead of a basic human right.

Instead of getting angry at people who do what's best for them maybe be angry at those in power who have allowed this to happen .

BTW, many a time it's not the 'treatment' that's the issue but getting a diagnosis. The two times I'd had to use the NHS I got my consultant appointment a YEAR after first being seen by my GP! Granted I wouldn't have died but my condition caused a lot of discomfort and had a massive impact on my daily life and work. They expected me to just live with it for a year.

Went private, got to see a consultant within days and if I'd needed long-term treatment he'd have referred me back to his NHS list. So I'd have skipped the queue.

You can't get any treatment without a diagnosis yet the diagnosis itself takes a long time.

BTW if I hadn't gotten treatment the loss of income from sick days etc would have mounted up not to mention the damage to my career and reputation. Insurance is a small price to pay.

It shouldn't be like this. But it is. If you were lucky enough to receive stellar treatment well then be grateful because it's a postcode lottery and not all of us are as fortunate.

Sudden death runs in DH’s family. My Private healthcare policy discovered the slight enlargement of the heart in DSD that precipates this and a hole in the heart for DS that night have led to a stroke. DSD is now on meds and being monitored monthly on the NHS. DS is monitored annually and will get surgery after he turns 7.

Note the NHS doesn’t check for this unless you’ve had a confirmed sudden death in the immediate family. Deaths of immediate family in places where autopsies aren’t done don’t count - which is probably why so many South Asians die of preventable heart issues.

Through DP work but I probably wouldn't have it otherwise. We pay to add on me and DC and it has paid for itself in massage/physio and a dental treatment so it has been worth it

What fallacies and projection? The OP gave specific examples and I responded to them.

I don’t care a jot if people pay for private healthcare, my one and only point is that it is a luxury to be able to.

We paid privately for my daughter to see an ENT faster than the NHS. It was a luxury to be able to do that.

Rather than asking me why I take issue with people paying privately (I don’t, which I have repeatedly said), you could ask yourself why you take issue with it being a luxury to be able to.

Whatever the wait times or hardships or inadequacies of being on the NHS, that still doesn’t mean that paying for the alternative isn’t a luxury.

I would love to rely on the NHS. In our case the insurance has saved us huge waiting times but I’m sure the treatment is largely the same. It’s the waiting times and access for us. Family members in a different area seem to have much better access to GPs and healthcare. We have to wait 6-12 weeks for a GP appointment that isn’t urgent (and even some urgent stuff is done by text if they think it just needs antibiotics) and waiting lists are years. I’ve been on one for something not covered by insurance for over two years now. And the lack of access definitely affects diagnosis. Doctor friends of mine are really concerned about the many lost opportunities that moving to GP phone (or text) interactions is having for example.

Very well said.

No, this is all just a very long-winded version of saying 'isn't it nice to have money'. Endless streams about the bad things that would have happened to you if you didn't pay privately, does not remove the fact that it's a luxury – both things can be true at the same time. If you're not aware that the majority of the UK cannot afford it, then that's a you problem.

You don't need to stop paying for it, but you should recognise what it is.

Not only is your reading comprehension terrible, you don't seem to know what words actually mean. No need to call other people long-winded when you just can't read properly.

First of all, there's no bad things that would have happened. They did happen. Personal experience.

Secondly, in said scenario I got no NHS treatment in a timely manner. I needed it, therefore I paid. The treatment was essential.

The definition of 'luxury' is an inessential good. So what you're really saying is, the treatment I received was completely unnecessary. I should have just waited a year in pain.

You know, some people can't afford food. That doesn't mean food is a luxury. I wouldn't go so far as to call private health insurance that - but it's not a luxury in the way holidays or private jets are. The clue is in the name...insurance, it's only going to be useful if something bad actually happens.

Maybe don't buy house insurance, car insurance (although illegal) , travel insurance or any other type if you don't believe in it.