I'm old: Is private medical insurance worth it?

[Mr Moofo]

I am in a very fortunate position that for the lat 40 or so years of my life I have had company provided health insurance. I now have to insure myself - carrying on my prior Bupa policy. Wifey's has gone up by 35% , mine by about 12%. Plus we have to pay 500 excess before they tump up for anything.

The other option is to "self insure" - don't pay the 3k plus - stick it in the bank/ accept that other moneys will pay for anything. HAs anyone else been in the same position - and what was your experience ?
Thanks

[G.P]

I used the NHS for the last 15 years and when I 'turned native' and joined the company I was consulting for, part of my package was the option of Private Heatlh.
However, there was no cover for pre-existing conditions which kind of made it worthless as I have diverticulitis (which never really goes away) and had a TIA last year (mini-stroke) and my wife is a Multiple Sclerosis sufferer.
Imagine my surprise when I got a message from our guys saying they'd changed the insurer, gone to Bupa and pre-existing conditions are OK.

So now I'm covered by Bupa but I must say, the NHS have looked after Mrs GP brilliantly and there is no way she would swap her neurologist for anyone else.
My company cover the BIK via a salary adjustment but to be honest, if it cost much, I wouldn't bother - but maybe I'm lucky in the postcode lottery?

Anyway - good health to you

[Count Steer]

I am in a very fortunate position that for the lat 40 or so years of my life I have had company provided health insurance. I now have to insure myself - carrying on my prior Bupa policy. Wifey's has gone up by 35% , mine by about 12%. Plus we have to pay 500 excess before they tump up for anything.

The other option is to "self insure" - don't pay the 3k plus - stick it in the bank/ accept that other moneys will pay for anything. HAs anyone else been in the same position - and what was your experience ?
Thanks

This months Which report has a health supplement in and one of the sections is on the costs of going the private health insurance route looking at cost/age sort of thing. Haven't looked in detail but if you can get a copy/onto the web site it may help. (I'll have closer look tomorrow).

[Trinity765]

I work for a health insurer.

Consider any pre-existing conditions - will you be underwritten for them? It's only pre-existing if a doctor has diagnosed you.

Study your benefit guide (ask to see a benefit guide or full list of benefits). What will and won't you be covered for and what is the benefit limit - what are the yearly benefit limits and what are the lifetime benefit limits?

Get quotes from brokers as they may get a discount and they should manage any claims for you (chasing them up with the insurer, arguing any rejected claims).

The same doctors work for private hospitals and the NHS. The food is a lot nicer in private hospitals and you get choices you don't get under the NHS.

The private sector are all about making money and any condition you have they will see as an opportunity which may mean you have treatment you don't really need.

I am a huge supporter of the NHS and I feel most Brits take it for granted.

[Mussels]

I have it and have got my money's worth over the last 4 years.
It is a lot of money but has offered solutions not available on the NHS. My wife has needed a couple of procedures and both times the NHS went for the cheap and easy option for them, private gave us much less invasive options with a faster recovery time.
Most recently the NHS said a double hip replacement was needed but private consultant is trying a much simpler option first which could put the need for a hip replacement off for ten years.
Years ago I needed both knees operated on, private offered me options that didn't appear on the NHS until a few years later.

My wife trained as an NHS nurse and was a staunch supporter of the NHS until she saw her choices recently.

Self insuring may be viable as a fairly major op will cost a few grand but you won't be expecting them often.

[Mr Moofo]

I work for a health insurer.

Consider any pre-existing conditions - will you be underwritten for them? It's only pre-existing if a doctor has diagnosed you.

Study your benefit guide (ask to see a benefit guide or full list of benefits). What will and won't you be covered for and what is the benefit limit - what are the yearly benefit limits and what are the lifetime benefit limits?

Get quotes from brokers as they may get a discount and they should manage any claims for you (chasing them up with the insurer, arguing any rejected claims).

The same doctors work for private hospitals and the NHS. The food is a lot nicer in private hospitals and you get choices you don't get under the NHS.

The private sector are all about making money and any condition you have they will see as an opportunity which may mean you have treatment you don't really need.

I am a huge supporter of the NHS and I feel most Brits take it for granted.

Hi, thanks for that
It will be my Monday job - BUPA are taking the piss from an initial view .
Obviously , prior conditions will be an issue.
Whilst I understand your views on the NHS , I live in an area with a terrible GP set up ( thought Worthing A&E have been very good to me). The HNS have not given me or my better half the service that everyone else seems to see.

[Count Steer]

Looked at the Which article. TBH, Trinity gives more info up there ^ than there is in the couple of pages. They do raise an eyebrow that claims and treatments were way down over the Covid years...but PMI companies increased 73% of premiums (despite the fact that the financial regulator had instructed them to review their value for money, given the circumstances, in June 2020).

Was happy with the NHS locally (GPs and hospital) until the recent events. I'll assume they'll get sorted again eventually and stay self-insured. (Doesn't take many saved premiums to cover some pretty significant treatments).

[Cousin Jack]

Used to have health insurance via employer, then I left. Insurer (I forget which one) would not offer any special deal for continuing, it was standard rate and that was expensive. We chose to self insure, so far it has been well worth it, with a few bills mainly for £00s rather than £000s. Perhaps we have been lucky, but at my age, and with my mixture of health problems, no one would touch me, so I no longer have a choice.

IME paying for a consultant often opens the door to NHS treatment, same as you would get anyway but you might wait months/years before getting an initial diagnosis. A £1000 or so to skip the waiting list is cheap.

[Trinity765]

I work for a health insurer.

Consider any pre-existing conditions - will you be underwritten for them? It's only pre-existing if a doctor has diagnosed you.

Study your benefit guide (ask to see a benefit guide or full list of benefits). What will and won't you be covered for and what is the benefit limit - what are the yearly benefit limits and what are the lifetime benefit limits?

Get quotes from brokers as they may get a discount and they should manage any claims for you (chasing them up with the insurer, arguing any rejected claims).

The same doctors work for private hospitals and the NHS. The food is a lot nicer in private hospitals and you get choices you don't get under the NHS.

The private sector are all about making money and any condition you have they will see as an opportunity which may mean you have treatment you don't really need.

I am a huge supporter of the NHS and I feel most Brits take it for granted.

Hi, thanks for that
It will be my Monday job - BUPA are taking the piss from an initial view .
Obviously , prior conditions will be an issue.
Whilst I understand your views on the NHS , I live in an area with a terrible GP set up ( thought Worthing A&E have been very good to me). The HNS have not given me or my better half the service that everyone else seems to see.

Bupa are a premium brand

Private hospitals don't have A&E so you'll still end up there until you are stable enough to be moved to a comfy, private bed. Some policies have a cash back benefit where you can claim for any time spent in an NHS hospital - it's a benefit that most people miss and don't use.

[Count Steer]

IME paying for a consultant often opens the door to NHS treatment, same as you would get anyway but you might wait months/years before getting an initial diagnosis. A £1000 or so to skip the waiting list is cheap.

A friend paid for a consultation and scans. Then told the consultant that she couldn't afford the knee op privately, so the same consultant did the op on the NHS.

I guess you have to look out for yourself, but it does whiff a bit if you can hand over cash to an NHS consultant, while he's got his private head on, and buy your way to the front of the NHS queue.

[wheelnut]

My own view is that private care is great for ingrown toenails and get getting fairly minor stuff done conveniently and quickly with some nice food while you’re there.

If it’s anything major then I’d want to be in an NHS hospital.

[Horse]

My own view is that private care is great for ingrown toenails and get getting fairly minor stuff done conveniently and quickly with some nice food while you’re there.

If it’s anything major then I’d want to be in an NHS hospital.

Our nearest major NHS hospital is getting major (eg total knee replacement) orthopaedic surgery done at a nearby private hospital.

[Noggin]

Where I am we are basically a private healthcare system. It isn't really but the reality is that we all pay a bit more and so the treatment is amazing

A&E in the uk is amazing (once you are out of the ambulance and actually being seen by someone) but anything else you need to queue, pay to jump a queue or have private

Personally if I ended up living in the UK again (please god no!!) one condition would be decent private health insurance. I have no idea about which one, but I wouldn't be over there without it

If you have any operation in the UK you will get very basic aftercare on the NHS - after my experience here of rehabilitation post op, it is 100% necessary and something not available to most in the UK


But it is a bit pie in the sky cos no one knows if they'll need it. Here we are covered for 70% of the cost of treatments and most people have an insurance (mutuelle) to cover the other 30%. But I do know people who don't think the mutuelle is worth the cost. For people like me that can't seem to manage one foot in front of the other without injury, it's totally worth it. You have to work out the risk to you and decide!!

[Cousin Jack]

I guess you have to look out for yourself, but it does whiff a bit if you can hand over cash to an NHS consultant, while he's got his private head on, and buy your way to the front of the NHS queue.

It does, and I wouldn't do it for something trivial, but if push comes to shove I will do whatever is necessary for me and mine. Often it just buys peace of mind, I buggered my shoulder about 2 years ago. GP was useless and the physio attached to practice was worse than useless, she terrified me with pictures of plates and screws, a real Noggin job.

Half an hour with my new mate Sean reassured me. It feels awkward, it looks much worse than it is, but it works, and the advice was to forget it. Apparently several professional rugby players continue to play in the same state as I am. Well, perhaps a bit fitter, but you know what I mean. I inconvenienced no one else on the NHS, but I bought peace of mind.

[Noggin]

I guess you have to look out for yourself, but it does whiff a bit if you can hand over cash to an NHS consultant, while he's got his private head on, and buy your way to the front of the NHS queue.

It does, and I wouldn't do it for something trivial, but if push comes to shove I will do whatever is necessary for me and mine. Often it just buys peace of mind, I buggered my shoulder about 2 years ago. GP was useless and the physio attached to practice was worse than useless, she terrified me with pictures of plates and screws, a real Noggin job.

Half an hour with my new mate Sean reassured me. It feels awkward, it looks much worse than it is, but it works, and the advice was to forget it. Apparently several professional rugby players continue to play in the same state as I am. Well, perhaps a bit fitter, but you know what I mean. I inconvenienced no one else on the NHS, but I bought peace of mind.

Not sure whether to be offended or laugh!!

[Cousin Jack]

My own view is that private care is great for ingrown toenails and get getting fairly minor stuff done conveniently and quickly with some nice food while you’re there.

If it’s anything major then I’d want to be in an NHS hospital.

That is the worry really. Very few private hospitals do eg heart surgery. My most likely operation is a coronary bypass. Private medicine in the UK is very much cherry picking.

[Cousin Jack]

Not sure whether to be offended or laugh!!

The physio's picture book was a metal contraption to rival your shoulder. Having heard your tale of woe about the original NHS botch job I was crapping myself more than a bit!

[Scotsrich]

I have polyps in my nose. A real bugger when it deprives you of your sense of taste and smell.

However the NHS won’t operate on the premise that they just grow back again. I got nasal sprays and if I asked the doc he would reluctantly prescribe steroid nasal drops.

So I went private and the consultant offered an op but of course he also said they could return. But he did give me a course of the very same drops that I got off my GP. However the funny thing is because he gave me nasal drops my GP now prescribes them whenever I want because I’ve seen a ‘consultant’ and that’s given him the okay.

So it cost me about £1.5k to get the same stuff my GP could have given me

My story of going private that is of no relevance to anyone but oh well.

[Mussels]

We have found GP advice changes if they know you have insurance, from 'this is what will happen in about a year' to 'the consultant might offer these choices'.

[wheelnut]

That is the worry really. Very few private hospitals do eg heart surgery. My most likely operation is a coronary bypass. Private medicine in the UK is very much cherry picking.

I can’t comment for all private hospitals, but if you’re on the operating table in our local BUPA one and you end up going off, then they’ll call an ambulance and get you whisked off to an NHS A&E.

I don’t know if you saw that ‘This is going to Hurt’ with Ben Wishaw where he covered for a night in a swanky private maternity hospital and someone ended up with birth complications and had to be taken to hospital where they had the right resources - that’s pretty much how it is.