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Private health insurance


mgsontour
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Afternoon all

I'm hearing of friends facing unbelievable problems facing them to get doctor appointments and horrendous backlogs for even urgent operations in the North West, maybe it's the same the length and breadth of the country but as we are all getting older I'm considering paying for private health care insurance BUT am wary of insurance policies that when it's crunch time the bow out gracefully quoting the small print in their exclusions.

I know PW is a fantastic source of knowledge so maybe someone has experiences they could share on the topic, whether its good/bad or value/waste of money so put up with the NHS or simply pay when a problem arises to get quick treatment?

All comments greatly received and thanks in advance

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Before I retired I paid for (i.e. I paid, not employer) private insurance.  However, as you get older, the price goes up - and it became more that I could reasonably afford from my retirement income.  Remember that for things like joint replacements etc., you can pay yourself.  At a rough guess, 1 hip joint is only about 24 months payments.

It is quite hard to decide what cover to have because the really comprehensive policies are of course the most expensive.  The cheaper ones may not cover every form of illness as they are capped as to how much they will pay out.  Some also have quite a high 'excess'.  I think the one I had I paid the first £500 every time.

A relative has one with will cover most things - but only if they can't give NHS treatment within a specified period.  As an example that relative needed stents - and because the NHS deemed it urgent, they did it quickly and he didn't have to call on his private cover, but had the NHS said he would have to wait many weeks/months, the private cover would have been available.

It is a minefield.

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3 hours ago, JohnfromUK said:

Before I retired I paid for (i.e. I paid, not employer) private insurance.  However, as you get older, the price goes up - and it became more that I could reasonably afford from my retirement income.  Remember that for things like joint replacements etc., you can pay yourself.  At a rough guess, 1 hip joint is only about 24 months payments.

It is quite hard to decide what cover to have because the really comprehensive policies are of course the most expensive.  The cheaper ones may not cover every form of illness as they are capped as to how much they will pay out.  Some also have quite a high 'excess'.  I think the one I had I paid the first £500 every time.

A relative has one with will cover most things - but only if they can't give NHS treatment within a specified period.  As an example that relative needed stents - and because the NHS deemed it urgent, they did it quickly and he didn't have to call on his private cover, but had the NHS said he would have to wait many weeks/months, the private cover would have been available.

It is a minefield.

Thanks for that especially your deduction of 24mths for a hip, which is kind of how I work dog insurance; be careful as possible, fix most things with kennel rest salty water and 1/2 a paracetamol and get my hand in my pocket when needed

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Just had some work done on my eye. As far as the NHS where concerned I could have gone blind. Fortunately I have been in a private scheme through my old job (police) and got an appointment with a private surgeon within seven days and treatement started imediatley and is now completed succesfully.   The NHS is not fit for purpose and suffering the same downward spiral as the police force, ambulance etc etc.  over educated woke management is one of the problems.

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15 minutes ago, mgsontour said:

Thanks for that especially your deduction of 24mths for a hip

You are welcome, but do check the figures as they are based very loosely on what I was paying (several years ago aged around 60) and what someone else paid for a hip (at about the same time).  Both procedure prices and insurance premiums are pretty variable.

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The NHS are reducing the backlog by subcontracting some ops to private hospitals.

I had my cataract done privately, but paid for by the NHS, upon the recommendation of my optician.

Similarly, my brother is having a hip replacement done privately, again funded by the NHS

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A work mate had a hernia op done at a private hospital via the NHS but they will do it as cheap as they can. That meant no keyhole op for him and he had the full hack you open job.

Also it may be better to pay for certain things to speed the NHS process up. My mother in law is having a heart op and needed some tests doing but the NHS was taking months so they paid private for that. They do have a good disposable income though.

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 I have had it through work for years, it does not really work as you would expect, you still need to see an NHS doctor before anything happens and then you only really jump the wait if theres a long wait on the NHS. I would save the monthly premium (£250 for me on my taxable perk aged 50) and if you ever find you need something done in a hurry with a long wait then pay to have the operation privately (hips, knees etc)

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If you can afford it go for it , Its great  the wifes work gave us BUPA and now the eqivilant I went the doctors with Tunnel Carpol Sindromme  ? SPELLING 

He had a look i couldnt get a spoon full of soup from the bowl to my mouth with out shaking it all offf , He had a look agreed and said theres a 18month  wait  I said the wife works for this well know company and ive got BUPA he said call this number , I did was asked which hospitial did i want seen at and any prefrance of doctor ?The next week i was seen booked in asked which paper did i want next morning etc i got taken in and given a local and like a inner tube pumped up on my arm  the surgeon spoke to me the whole while swapped over did the other side i returned to my room slept it off and a nurse was in and out are you okay tea, coffee toast How the other half live it was rare LOL 

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Insurance companies make money by not paying out, private hospitals offer a service where they pick the procedures with the highest return/lowest risk.   If you are having a procedure in the private hospital and you take a turn for the worse then you'll likely have a ride in an ambulance to an NHS hospital A&E - with vital minutes (hours?) lost, whereas inside the NHS all the services are close to hand.  Private healthcare is OK, but far from perfect - at least now you know the reality.

I have private health care as part of my package - but decline it because of the above (wife is a nurse who has worked in the private sector as well as the NHS for 40+ years).

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I would not pay for private health insurance, if it came as a work benefit fine. The NHS is not perfect but people should look at the American system before they complain, in the UK if you are not happy with the NHS and can afford private you have a choice unlike some countries. 

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On 30/05/2022 at 12:42, ditchman said:

it has been over 2 years since i have seen my doctor..........i do see her big black mercedes 4wd in the car park from time to time....parked next to BMW's and Audi's 4x4...


If only she would have done a degree in movie interpretation, instead of likely spending 10-15 years doing medical training … 🤷‍♂️ 

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I really don't get jealous about how a highly trained and dedicated person spends their money on a car of their choice. I have a firstl class Doctor and Surgery, we call them the A Team. They have been under a huge amount of extra stress in the last three years but told us that if we REALLY needed to see a Doctor upfront and personal it would happen. I have private medical insurance from way back in the early 80s when the West Midland Police started their own scheme which is now run nationally.  If you can put aside that amount each month then do it.

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24 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

I really don't get jealous about how a highly trained and dedicated person spends their money on a car of their choice. I have a firstl class Doctor and Surgery, we call them the A Team. They have been under a huge amount of extra stress in the last three years but told us that if we REALLY needed to see a Doctor upfront and personal it would happen. I have private medical insurance from way back in the early 80s when the West Midland Police started their own scheme which is now run nationally.  If you can put aside that amount each month then do it.

i have spent my working life paying FULL taxes for my pension and Health so i shouldnt have to do it.........the way the NHS is run and the truly appalling waste of money paying gravy train jobs and buying goods and lazy staff.........

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Just now, Rim Fire said:

I don't think you can call the staff lazy after the last two years with CV 19

 

I had personal experience of being hospitalised for 3 days during Covid (but not with Covid).  The staff were not lazy - but they were VERY poorly organised.  I was 11 hours in A&E inn a corridor (despite being sent there by my GP and having my initial 'triage' very quickly).  They couldn't find a bed.  There were more staff than patients - mostly struggling with computer screens.  When I was eventually taken to a bed at 1:30 in the morning - the ward was me and one other patient - despite having 8 places.  Nursing staff were very good, but as an example of how badly organised it is ....... I had my 'readings' taken every 3 hours (Blood Pressure, Temp, Oxygen, and possibly others?).  They were done on a large trolley load of instruments by two nurses - one did the readings, the other wrote the readings down on a clipboard.  This despite being fully WiFi/Bluetooth enabled high tech kit.  The readings from the clipboard were then hand transcribed onto a sheet clipped to my bed, and a ring binder by the ward door.  One nurse wrote it - the other checked it.  Once all (in this case both) patients were measured - the two nurses sat down at a terminal (which was next to my bed, so I could see and hear what was going on) and transcribed the readings again into the terminal.  This was very long winded because 'logging on' seemed to be problematic and assistance had to be sought from another nurse.

I asked why they readings didn't go automatically onto the 'system' - and was told it was possible to do that - but it didn't work reliably.

In summary - once on the ward, the staff were great and did work hard - but the working practices were hugely inefficient and very badly organised with poorly set up (but no doubt very costly) equipment.

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17 minutes ago, ditchman said:

i have spent my working life paying FULL taxes for my pension and Health so i shouldnt have to do it.........the way the NHS is run and the truly appalling waste of money paying gravy train jobs and buying goods and lazy staff.........

Hello, I agree Simon , why should anyone pay to go private, but sometimes it's the only way, as for your last paragraph I think millions of £s are wasted like that and nothing much is done , theft from hospitals ? 

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1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

of likely spending 10-15 years doing medical training

And this is why there is a shortage - universities in the period after B Liars university for all pledge went for the most money making short courses to the determent of things like medicine and engineering courses, this means we now have a shortage until this situation is totally removed.  I believe we are training more medics and have been for the last 10 years or so but as training takes so long it will take time to catch up.

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3 hours ago, ditchman said:

i have spent my working life paying FULL taxes for my pension and Health so i shouldnt have to do it.........the way the NHS is run and the truly appalling waste of money paying gravy train jobs and buying goods and lazy staff.........

100% agree. The system needs root and branch pruning. My wife had a minor op at a private hospital and a nurse came into the room with a wad of paper forms which she said had to be completed, some of the questions where relevant but 95% where not and when asked if she drank my wife said, "Yes, like a fish" and insisted the nurse write that in which she did. She also said she would much prefer to be actually nursing rather than filling i n forms for the 'management' to shuffle around.  You can imagine what it is in the NHS.

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I have private insurance through work.  I’ve not really used it in anger myself but I have found it absolutely brilliant for getting quick and easy access to physiotherapy when I’ve had a couple of joint/back issues - a quick phone assessment and then no fuss, no waiting, just make an appointment with your own choice of private therapist and away you go.  I was admitted to hospital for the first time in my life last year via A&E for an urgent condition and I have to say my treatment was fantastic and in that situation, the NHS performed brilliantly and apart from having a room to myself and probably better food, I’m not sure how private treatment could have been any better in my particular situation.  My wife has used our private cover a few times, she has MS and has had a few orthopaedic issues due to impaired mobility etc.  where the private cover has excelled is in the speed in which she has been reviewed, had scans etc and then being treated.  Facing the prospect of an 18 month wait whilst in pain must be a tough situation to be in, and for me, the private cover is a huge comfort.

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