Private healthcare - am I doing the right thing?

[RedPandaFluff]

Today is the last day of my cooling-off period for a Vitality health policy I took out two weeks ago. It covers me, DH and DD (almost 9 months old) for £140 a month. This is a lot, but we can afford it, if we sacrifice a couple of luxuries (a couple of takeaways, I'll stop hitting "Buy Now" quite so hastily on Amazon etc.)

Am I doing the right thing by continuing this policy? A couple of things I'm worried about are how high the premiums can get (there's nothing to stop them increasing these each year, although I guess I can just cancel if it gets really excessive) and whether the £1600+ I'm spending on this every year would be better put in our savings pot.

Any opinions or advice would be appreciated!

I have it through work so costs about £500 per year just for me. Honestly the only time I've used it was when I had 2 stays in hospital for 2 ruptured ectopics and claimed the £100 per night rebate. I tried to use it to get a HSG covered after the first ectopic but they refused saying it was a fertility investigation (it wasn't - I wanted to know if I was risking my life again by continuing TTC if the tube was blocked and I'd just end up with another ectopic 🤷‍♀️)

Also the surgeon who operated on my ectopics also worked at the local private hospital which happens a lot so I wouldn't say the standard of care is any different to what the NHS can provide in that sense?

I personally wouldn't have cover for children as they get priority with GP appointments etc anyway and generally NHS care is very good

Obviously delays due to covid could be a concern? - so I'd maybe let it run for the next 12 months and then review next year when hopefully things have settled down and the NHS is working through a backlog

One thing I'd consider is how private healthcare has been affected due to Covid, so hospitals shut or repurposed, consultations postponed though believe these things may be opening up again now. This may happen again.

We've had private health insurance through work for 20 years now, and we've probably had what we've put in - I've had 2 lots of surgery and a lot of physio, imaging and consultants. DH has had 4 lots of surgery, lots of imaging, and back to the consultant today for imaging and a plan for surgery probably, and ds had several consultations and tests as a baby but nothing since.
But I wouldn't pay for this myself tbh - save the money and then if you get to a point where you really need to see someone and the NHS will take a really long time, you'll be able to pay for it. We also wouldn't be covered for DHs knee on a normal policy as it would exclude preexisting conditions which is what has been the biggest use for us

I'd save the premiums and decide whether to go private on a case by case basis. We'd thought about taking out private cover but decided against it. About a year later, DH needed a procedure doing for which there was a long NHS wait (despite his symptoms being a cancer red flag). He went private, and it cost less than the premiums would have been for that year. Obviously it won't always work out that neatly, but for us, it's a better way to do it.

I have it through work, and it is great. I now have access to an online GP service, it used to really irritate me that you had to get a referral from the GP in order to access the private healthcare. Seemed to defeat the point somewhat.

I have had two knee surgeries, an ERPC (within 24 hours when the NHS wait was three weeks), numerous physio over the years, acupuncture for the knee problem.

My daughter had an online consult during lockdown for a chest infection and the prescription was sent direct to my pharmacy to collect and the other one has received an orthopaedic referal in lockdown.

I have an excess of £150 per year and it covers existing conditions.

I wouldn't personally pay £140 / month for it though, and haven't added DH for that reason.

I also have it through work so pay nothing like that much a month and I've used it for 10 session of physios (well worth a premium of £100), claimed £100 for 2 nights in an NHS hospital (consultant wouldn't do that procedure privately) and had gynae treatment which was worth every penny of what i've paid in over the last few years just to be seen as quickly as i was - i was seen, scanned, had 2 procedures in just over 3 months whereas the NHS had a 26 week wait just for the first procedure (and that was before Covid hit). When something is affecting your quality of life it's hard to put a price on what it's worth.
That said, £140 a month sounds like a lot of money!

This is all really useful food for thought, thank you - especially the points about the policy potentially being useful during these troubled COVID-19 times, and then to review it after a year to see how things are panning out.

It is a lot of money . . . I think the core of my dilemma is that, like all insurance policies, it could either be the biggest waste of money ever, or the best investment I've ever made, and it's impossible to know which it will be. And further to that, I'd hope it's a waste of money!

@RedPandaFluff

This is all really useful food for thought, thank you - especially the points about the policy potentially being useful during these troubled COVID-19 times, and then to review it after a year to see how things are panning out.

It is a lot of money . . . I think the core of my dilemma is that, like all insurance policies, it could either be the biggest waste of money ever, or the best investment I've ever made, and it's impossible to know which it will be. And further to that, I'd hope it's a waste of money!

As my point below, in Covid times the service will be affected as it has over the last few months. Consultants will be deployed solely in the NHS, especially if we see rates rise.

We have almost always had private care, either paid for ourselves or through work, and it has covered both DD's. One DD has never used it, the other we were very grateful to be covered for private mental health services which she needed after an accident. Her initial consultations fell during a time when we didn't have insurance, it cost us £1,500, recently we have had a further £2,000 covered by insurance, so worth having, and of course instant access to help. DH had Lyme disease, and had a huge amount of diagnostics and consultations not available from the NHS - so again worth it. Also had a couple of ops and physio for sports injuries. I have had a couple of operations, no wait, and access to treatments also not generally available on the NHS.

Consultants will be deployed solely in the NHS, especially if we see rates rise

Not all consultants are equal though. Gynaecologists, dermatologists, orthopaedics, are some of the specialities not required to support Covid treatment.

@Baaaahhhhh

Consultants will be deployed solely in the NHS, especially if we see rates rise

Not all consultants are equal though. Gynaecologists, dermatologists, orthopaedics, are some of the specialities not required to support Covid treatment.

DD gets private care through work and her Max Fax surgeon wasnt available throughout covid, he told her her he'd been redeployed by the NHS. Neither was DH's Gastro consultant. Also neither of our local private hospitals were taking referrals during the worst of covid. It seems to be very variable. I don't think I'd bank on being seen privately if we get another peak.

I've had private healthcare for the past 10 years. I think it's amazing - I can get a same day appointment with my GP or next day or any day of my choosing, referrals are super fast, I had a funny smear and had a super fast referral and was monitored every 3 months by the consultant until my funny cells started resolving themselves. I also had lots of sessions with a psychologist. I'm now pregnant and have private maternity care which has been amazing - scans at 6, 8, 10, 12 weeks so far. I absolutely think it's worth it - you never know what's going to happen but it's just peace of mind. The NHS has huge demands on it - I think being able to bypass the long waits and have care that doesn't factor in the cost of treatments/procedures is something worth having.

I've had private cover for over 30 years through work, but have recently set it up independently as work circs have changed.

Have you shopped around for a good deal?

I pay just over £80 a month, am in my 60s and have full cover for anything and all top London hospitals.

I'd have thought if you were younger, you would be looking at more like £40-50 a month. Are you being charged for something like Denplan as part of the policy? (I'm not.)

You can also get cover which is based on shared responsibility- that means you pay a percentage of each consultation or treatment. That reduces the monthly cost. I opted to pay 25%, so the average consultation of £300 costs 25% of that. There is also an annual limit on my part of the contribution.

I think private cover is well worth every penny. I've used it many times. At the moment, private hospitals are back to almost normal for consultations (some by Zoom only) and someone I know was still able to have private blood tests and MRI/ CT scans (routine, but necessary) during lockdown which would have been impossible on the NHS.

Might be worth you shopping around.

Hi @JinglingHellsBells - the £140 covers me as well as DH and DD; but actually I didn't do very much shopping around! I'll have a look at a few more; thank you.

Consultants will be deployed solely in the NHS, especially if we see rates rise.

No completely untrue. Consultants are specialists not general drs, so they are simply not going to be drafted into a Covid situation. They are also working privately, so they cannot be forced to work for the NHS!

Hmm . . . so it could be utterly useless during COVD-19 then . . .

Yes I know you meant £70 each but that is still almost the same as mine and I'm in my 60s.

Vitality Health are an absolute rip off for private customers in my experience

@JinglingHellsBells

Consultants will be deployed solely in the NHS, especially if we see rates rise.

No completely untrue. Consultants are specialists not general drs, so they are simply not going to be drafted into a Covid situation. They are also working privately, so they cannot be forced to work for the NHS!

Do you work in healthcare?

Of course consultants are specialists, otherwise the StR training would be a bit of a waste of time, as would going on the Specialty Register . I know consultants who were not ID, Resp Med, Anaesthetics or Intensivist consultants, they were redeployed within the NHS to support other specialties.

Private providers (as in organisations) were contracted to work with the NHS during the crisis and many ceased elective private surgery.

Specialist register I should have said

See here BMA statement for clarity OP and others:

www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/adapting-to-covid/covid-19-working-in-private-practice

Consultants in any surgical speciality (e.g. gynae, orthopaedics which have been mentioned by a PP below) are highly skilled in airway management which comes under 1. These skills for example are critical to the deteriorating Covid patient.

@FallingIguanas

See here BMA statement for clarity OP and others:

www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/covid-19/adapting-to-covid/covid-19-working-in-private-practice

Consultants in any surgical speciality (e.g. gynae, orthopaedics which have been mentioned by a PP below) are highly skilled in airway management which comes under 1. These skills for example are critical to the deteriorating Covid patient.

Exactly. DD's private consultant (Max Fax) told her himself he'd been redeployed.

@FallingIguanas The error you are making is in assuming all consultants work in the NHS. Many do not. My gynae doesn't (used to but is not 100% private).

A private consultant can't be press ganged into working for the NHS during a Covid spike.

I have family members who had private appts during lockdown, with consultants. Some were working by Zoom from home, others were in specialists centres that were still open.

@RedPandaFluff It really depends on what you need. In any case, I doubt very much we will go back to shutting down private hospitals as happened in lockdown; lessons have been learned. They were never needed and the backlog in treatments is another issue.

I had family members who had private CT/ MRI scans and other tests during lockdown(covered by insurance) which would not even be on offer now on the NHS owing to the backlog.

Also, my private cover included private GP facilities ( remotely) and access to free counselling during lockdown.