How does private health care work UK?

[watermelonsugarmum]

Hi so I am considering taking out a private health care insurance policy. Not covered by work but my own personal one I will buy. I have read upon a few things saying your not covered for pre exisiting conditions which is fine I do have celiac disease but haven't looked at quotes to see how costly it would be for me. Anyways my question is some people mention if I have had an appoitment with my NHS GP about anything in the last 3 years I am not covered for that? I have no idea how it works. Does any one know how true this is? Also can anyone pls suggest good private health care insurance providers. I have gone to my gp for things such as PCOS recently and my tests were in range but does this mean I can't get it looked at privatley is well via insurance? And a few other things I wanted to get checked out but have not gone to my NHS gp about. Any suggestions pls let me know.

They’re all different but most will do a medical screening and ask you if you have any current medical conditions or any symptoms of xyz.

Then you’ll likely have to pay an excess and likely come initial consultant fees as well but it depends on your policy.

On mine I pay the first £500 then I get £1000 of worth of outpatient tests covered - then anything after that that isn’t inpatient I have to cover myself. I’m with Bupa.

So I’ve ended up paying thousands recently for tests and consultations as it was over the initial £1000.

@Roundeartheratchriatmas Thanks for the reply that seems extortionate what your paying . I thought you paid like £80 a month by taking out a policy and everything’s covered in there . Is there a reason you are paying that much what policy cover do you have ? Or is this how private health care works mind you I have no idea what so ever .

Oh I do - I also pay £40 a month. This is additional.

I think if you increase your initial monthly payment you can pay less excess and have a much higher or non existent inpatient limit. But I assume the monthly cost would be considerably more than I pay.

There is a lot of flexibility with that though - I chose the £500 excess and the £1000 outpatient limit.

Short answer is yes health insurers will ask for previous medical history and something like a GP for PCOS can trigger an exclusion for that condition.

The cost of PMI can be eye watering, but then again the cost of health care is eye watering so they sort of go hand in hand.

Costs will also go up with age, so each year you will see an increase

As well as the traditional PMI providers, look at Benenden health cash plan. It's a flat fee membership, covers pre-existing conditions but pays towards health care, doesn't aim to cover costs in full.

I would advise going through an insurance broker to get quotes as they will try and find you a policy that meets what you need

Private healthcare tends to cover you up until the point of diagnosis for chronic health conditions and for operations. Your Coeliac Disease and PCOS would still be managed by the NHS.