To think possibly private health insurance isn't worth the premiums?

[mamhaf]

This is a shameless repeat posting which I've put on health and legal/money matters but I'd appreciate more views on on this busier area of MN...it's not exactly AIBU but me and dh are in a quandary.

We currently have Bupa healthcare insurance on a special rate via my employer.

But the premiums have steadily risen (as they do for everyone as you get older) and the latest renewal notice says it'll be £134 a month with a £250 excess per person per year.

If we have a £500 excess it'll be £109.

We have used it a few times for various treatments over the years - e.g. some gynae problems for me; a back problem for dh and a minor skin complaint for dd2.

We've also had both very good and very bad experiences with the NHS over the last 10 years and so the private healthcare has been useful for peace of mind.

But with prices rising, neither of our jobs all that secure in the present climate, we're debating whether to keep it going.

Moneysavingexpert says it's a luxury not a necessity and suggests putting the premiums into a a high-interest account as a way of insuring yourself - that way if you need private physiotherapy or the like you can pay for it from that fund.

That obviously wouldn't be enought to pay for very expensive treatments for some years.

What do other people think? If you have private health insurance, what are the advantages would you say?

Has anyone had experiences with the NHS which makes them wish they had had the insurance?

tia

Sounds brutal, tbh - I wouldn't do it, but then I've never had it, and all my NHS experiences have been really positive. The MSE plan sounds good, esp. if you're generally in good health.

I had private insurance about 9 years ago. Had had it for 5 years. I developed growths on my eyelids. Went to gp, who said I must have them off. He referred me to NHS, but then I realised I had private healthcare so contacted them.

Private healthcare company where shit. They said it was cosmetic, so would not cover me.

Had my nhs appointment the next week (only waited a week to see opthalmic surgeon). They took them off that day, said if I was ever to get them again to go straight to gp to be referred.

I asked if it was just cosmetic. Got an emphatic no from opthalmic surgeon.

Came home, phoned private healthcare (not) provider and told them they could shove their policy where the sun does not shine!!!

Well, thats my little tale. So NHS 1 PPP 0.

We have private health ins through dh's work. We have used it a couple of times, it currently costs us £50 a month for 4 of us.

However I would say that the NHS is usually excellent for anything that is important, and there are ways around long waiting lists if you know how (my GP sent me to see the Geriatric Consultant for migraines because she only had a 2 week waiting list, she was then able to refer me for a scan, which came through quickly and then was seen by neuro quickly rather than waiting an inital 6 months to a year to be seen).

Plus if you work in the NHS its always easy to get some random doctor to do you a form for an xray/scan etc if needed.

So now Ive waffled i would say that Ive received excellent care from the NHS without using my Bupa HTH

Funnily enough I have become much more aware of my private medical cover over the past 2 months. Having suffered from bad period pain over the past 8 months I finally insisted on gynae referral thanks to Mumsnetters advice.

Luckily I have PMI through my work, so within a week I was referred to a consultant and within 3 weeks got my laparoscopy and cyst removal. They discovered a lot more endometriosis than expected so as a result I am on injections to cause artificial menopause for 4 months, then its our big shot to conceive DC2, fingers crossed.

A couple of days ago I got a letter from the NHS gynae saying I was on their waiting list and should get an initial appointment within 5 months. Consultant advised that average wait time for an op after that is around 4 months.

Clearly the endo would have spread much further, I would have been in undiagnosed pain for another 9 months, and at the age of 38.5 TTC would have had to wait for 9 +4 months, so decreasing the fairly low odds even further.

I feel so fortunate to have PMI and if I lose my job, which may well happen in these turbulent times, due to my personal circumstances, we will just have to find the money from somewhere to pay for it.

I have a Norwich Union policy via work, its not subsidised but a group policy, although there's only 5 families in it.

We currently pay £90 a month (this has just risen again from £82). This covers me 31, dh 35 and ds 6, so yours sounds quite expensive.

I've also used the policy several times. DS has had Grommets inserted twice, once with adenoids removed and a psychiatric visit. I've had several upper gi tests, gallbladder removal, dermatology visit and gynaecology visit (cancer scare), both of which required no further treatment.

My cholecystectomy to remove my gallbladder was done in the Nuffield Hospital in Glasgow and the bill for that alone was over £5k! . Also DS would have waited over a year for his ENT stuff, compared to the two weeks it actually took. So for me this has been well worth the money!

If I thought I couldn't afford my healthcare any longer I would take on an extra job just to cover the price of it if it meant I could keep it, its invaluable to me.

Oops just realised I'm 32, not 31! lol

It's a relative risk thing, isn't it, like all insurance? You weigh the risk of getting an illness/injury which would put you in a long waiting list for the NHS against the cost of the insurance. Our family history suggests the cost is really not worth it.

Thanks everyone.

Mumhadenough, we're a lot older than you - me and dh late 40s while dds are teenagers - it does go up as you get older.

Habbibu, you're right, it is relative risk.

We do have few ongoing health problems (I have endometriosis which my GP diagnosed as muscle strain before I asked for a private gynae appointment and surgery to diagnose it). So hard to tell what the real risk of needing it is - that's what the insurance companies weigh up on your behalf.

Any other thoughts anyone?

i would keep it if you can, some years ago my brother was in need of an operation for serious health problems, the wait on the nhs was about 8 months, fortunately he had pmi through work that covered it. if he had paid for the op and other treatment it would have been over £50K. if he had to wait the 8 months with the nhs he would have been too ill to have the op, so really it saved his life. (btw he was 20 at the time with no history of illness - you just never know)

We have priced it all up recently and for us it is not worth paying the premiums. We are better off simply paying if and when we need to.

I would keep it if you can afford it. Sure, you could cover physio, o/p consultations etc from saving what you would pay in premiums, but if either of you do need an operation the cost for even a minor procedure can quickly spiral into thousands. It depends how important it is to you to get seen quickly and choose when and where you are treated etc. I have to say I was a claims assessor for PPP for many years, although I left 10 years ago so am quite out of date! When I was there they didn't actually make much profit from corporate schemes - they made the profit from the leavers and retirees who went on to take out personal plans. So if you are on a subsidised corporate scheme you are not getting a bad deal, but it's just insurance - there is a risk, it's up to you whether you want to take it or not.
Have to also say that doing that job also made me realize just how bloody fantastic the NHS can be when you are really ill.

We've had it through work for ages - it's free, except we have to pay tax on the benefit (so not really free at all!). Never claimed until now - I need a minor op. This means we'll have just about saved the extra tax bill this year only. What's more I'm not sure the wait has been all that much reduced over the NHS as the consultant was fairly busy even privately, but the advantage is that you know you're getting the top man doing the job rather than some oik just out of training (though I think in this case the same man usually does the op on the nhs too). The disadvantage is that the cynic in me wonders if the consultant might be tempted to recommend an operation (as it's money in his pocket) if you were borderline & other treatments might work.

So, in short, I'd say not worth if you're in good health - but then you never do really know when your health is going to let you down.

i would agree with Drusilla in that it is only worth it if it is part of your company's benefit package (in which you only pay the tax on it). I understand from my company that many employees do make claims on their private medical insurance policies and so the premiums keep going up year after year . I haven't claimed so far but of course that can only be a good thing.