Private medical insurance

[RidingMyBike]

I've recently been offered a job, and part of the new starters' pack includes details of their private medical and dental insurance. I've never had this before and know little about it, other than reading a little on gov.uk. The employer would pay the premiums but I would be taxed as a benefit in kind.

Is it worth it? I have no idea of the costs? I'm a reasonably healthy 40-something and my only medical stuff in last 15 years has been pregnancy-related and a couple of bouts of depression. Although I will, of course, be heading into the menopause soon.

We currently use NHS dentist and self-insure for the cost (ie save money monthly into savings account to pay for it). This has been fine for the various crowns, fillings we've needed.

I can apparently add on other household members but would have to pay their premiums myself (not sure if this is a special package?). DH I imagine is uninsurable due to his age and longterm health conditions (he was on shielding list). I'm not sure if there's much point covering a child?
Help, I'm clueless!

For us it was def worth the tax. Almost immediate access to doctors, ours has a GP service as well.

100% worth it.
Today at midday i realised i needed a gp appointment. I had an appointment at 6.20 today.

My husband had dental treatment for root canal in 2 months after having stupidly insisted on nhs which would have taken 6 weeks for an initial appointment and 18months-2years for initial consult.

I get physio and chiropractors on tap and I chose my healthcare provider.

I would never take a job without it.

We have private health insurance through my husband's work for ourselves plus our two kids. It's bloody brilliant and our BIK is around £1,000 per year which we pay tax on.

Corporate plans usually disregard pre-existing conditions so your husband may well be covered. I have a long-term condition since childhood and broadly our plan pays for treatment for flare ups/chronic symptoms (for example, they're paying for me to have a hip replacement which is a result of my condition).

They've just added a free private GP service (over Zoom) which is great as you can often get same day/next day appointments and they can also do the referrals.

This year I've been able to book appointments with consultants in a short period of time (from 1-3 weeks), and in one case, the day after my GP referral. For us, the peace of mind of easy access to specialists is worth every penny.

@kin432

We have private health insurance through my husband's work for ourselves plus our two kids. It's bloody brilliant and our BIK is around £1,000 per year which we pay tax on.

Corporate plans usually disregard pre-existing conditions so your husband may well be covered. I have a long-term condition since childhood and broadly our plan pays for treatment for flare ups/chronic symptoms (for example, they're paying for me to have a hip replacement which is a result of my condition).

They've just added a free private GP service (over Zoom) which is great as you can often get same day/next day appointments and they can also do the referrals.

This year I've been able to book appointments with consultants in a short period of time (from 1-3 weeks), and in one case, the day after my GP referral. For us, the peace of mind of easy access to specialists is worth every penny.

Sounds amazing

Oh that does sound good, especially if pre-existing conditions aren't excluded from a corporate policy.
We've been fortunate so far with excellent NHS dentist care and our GP is amazing (been able to get same day or quick appts even during pandemic) but DH's referrals are taking ages and keep getting confused. We'll be relocating for the job so will lose the excellent GP and I'm aware it's not so excellent in other parts of the country.
Sounds like I need to look into the costs involved and get some more details, especially if it may include a private GP

I have private medical through work and think it’s a fantastic benefit. I value it so much that I’d keep paying for it if I left the company. It’s around £600 per year taxable benefit and then I pay another £600 myself to add DH and DD onto the plan. It pays for itself largely just through the routine stuff that you’d otherwise pay for (dental, eye tests, glasses, prescriptions, etc).

It’s great to know that if any of us need treatment we get it really quickly before things escalate, e.g. I had a bad back last year, phoned up the local chiropractor, was booked in the next day and had weekly treatment funded until it was better, so easy and I was back to normal after 6 weeks. Had I been using NHS I would probably have had to wait 4-6 weeks for a GP appointment and probably just been given some painkillers, maybe I would have been added to a long waiting list for treatment but that probably would have only happened if it got really bad. NHS is great for really serious things, but IME you can wait a long time, often in pain, for treatment for anything non life threatening.

We too have corporate medical insurance and it's the peace of mind and the GP function that is priceless.

Definitely worth it.

I need a gynae op, quite a big serious one. Waiting list on the NHS is around 12-18m at the moment.

Had no insurance, looked into private. Cost is 8k (all in). Resigned ourselves to using savings.

DH got promoted and we've all now got BUPA. Costs us about £1k a year for a family of 4 in tax. Rang them on the off chance that my op would be covered expecting them to say no because it's pre-existing and I've got a diagnosis etc. Nope. Fully covered, I just need to have a new referral and consultation and pay £100 excess. Can be done in as little as three weeks including the new consultation and referral. I can choose my consultant, hospital, and when I have it done (from an approved, but fairly lengthy list).

We also have access to a free 24/7 virtual GP service. Brilliant with small children and takes a tiny strain off the NHS if we use that. Every little helps and all that.

As long as we can afford it I wouldn't be without it now.

I would never be without it now, for all of us, never used it for DS but like knowing it's there if needed. DW has only used it for a physio for a poor ankle. However ,I myself have had over £400,000 from them for inpatient mental health treatment over the past 4 years, without which I wouldn't be alive now.

We’ve always had medical insurance and it’s definitely worth having and we added the children as they were born.
If you’re offered a private GP service, take it! You have a consult the same day and a prescription (if needed) is sent to your nearest chemist.
It’s also worth it’s weight in gold re diagnostic tests.
Sometimes you’re worried about something (for me it was constant allergic rhinitis, which was causing worsening asthma and I was sick of being fed steroids), your NHS GP’s not so concerned, but they’ll always do a referral if you have insurance. (I had grade 4 nasal polyps which required surgery -changed my life!)
Plus, if you want to, you can specify which consultant you want to see and arrange treatment around your schedule not just the hospital’s.
In a company scheme previous medical history is usually excluded.

DH I imagine is uninsurable due to his age and longterm health conditions

No point imagining this, find out what would be covered. For example, my company's policy does cover preexisting conditions and acute attacks of long term health conditions.

For example, they would not regular eye check ups for DH's glaucoma but did cover surgery for both eyes, and all the check ups required for that as a result of the glaucoma.

The reason companies pay for health insurance is less about whether you use it enough to get your money's worth and much more because if you do need medical attention, going privately means that you can schedule appointments at your convenience rather than wait and turn up at the health care provides convenience.

There are other elements included such as self referral to a treatment path including physio for 'bad backs' and mental health support too.

Fingers crossed you don't need it.

Thank you everyone! This is all really helpful especially re potentially getting cover for DH! I will look into the details

One company my husband work used to use (can’t remember the name) wouldn’t cover pre existing conditions for 2 years.

We found premiums went up quite a bit at the start of the year but we would never be without it now.