Private health insurance

I did try it a couple of years ago and used it for a tendon problem that arose. Had a couple of MRI’s and saw a consultant : times. I worked out that with all the excess etc I’d be better off putting the money away each month. I’ve just seen a private consultant at a private hospital via the NHS. The appointment came through quickly and he’s booked me in for a knee replacement although there’s a 6 month waiting list. The procedure will be performed at The Spire hospital and paid by the NHS. This appears to be the standard procedure these days.

Anyone have experience of HCMA medical insurance? It doesn't advertise but is available through various membership organisation and subscriptions. I saw their flyer in the Oldie and enquired. It seems a bit too good to be true.

DH has insurance and received a very worrying diagnosis about 18 months ago. He had a consultation with the surgeon who said that the surgery required wasn’t available privately because certain equipment was needed and also a stay in the ICU. It was all very successful and he was very well looked after. Before and after the operation he also needed chemo. This was given at a local private hospital where he again received excellent care and was able to be close to home. Very important when you don’t feel well. The statements from the insurance company show that this treatment alone cost £36,000. He’s very grateful to have had access to the private system for this.

I quite agree *Sazzi1, the NHS is good in emergencies and if you are seriously ill. Unfortunately the majority of patients fall into neither category and far too many of us end up having abysmal treatment.

I was misdiagnosed and treated for a condition I did not have and refused referral to the specialist I knew I should be seeing. In the end I went privately. The misdiagnosis was confirmed and I finally received treatment for the medical condition I actually had.

At the same time and in the same hospital my DH was receiving excellent treatment in the cardiac department.

I was in BUPA years ago and had an op in a private hospital. Surgeon was the same as I saw first in NHS. Apart from private room ensuite and a v nice menu all the same really.
Went to GP recently for bad urine infection. GP saw me 3 hours after I phoned did blood and urine test in surgery. Went home and GP rang 4 hours later for me to go immediately to urgent medical care at hospital. Doctor 2 nurses and HCA were waiting for me to arrive. Had several ECGs blood test, examined, drip set up, IVmeds and chest x-ray in half an hour of arriving. 2nd night I was on a ward, checked every 4 hours temperature and medication. In the morning HCA came around asking if anyone needed help to shower or wash. NHS is good if you are seriously ill. Also there is no private A&E. Food at NHS wasn't very nice but staff were brilliant

When working I had 'Simply Health' cover provided by my employer which was later changed to 'Benenden'. When I retired I considered paying for it myself but couldn't really afford it. It paid for dental cover, optician visits and glasses and enabled you to see a specialist privately to speed up diagnosis etc. It isn't full private healthcare but I think it covered things like physiotherapy and chiropody though I only benefitted from dentistry and eye care. Fortunately I never needed to use any of the other benefits though I could do with some now if I was still covered. It's a more affordable option and you could set aside the difference in case yuu need treatment privately that isn't covered.
Since retirement I have cut down on visits to the dentist and optician as even on the NHS I struggle to afford the costs, especially varifocal glasses. I used to get a new pair every year even if my prescription hadn't changed but now only when really necessary. Some treatments are no longer available at the dentist on the NHS so I had to forego the scale and polish last time as it would have doubled my bill! At least I still have an NHS dentist even if I can only afford to visit annually or even less! Glad my teeth have always been pretty good and I still have all my own!

Dont have private health insurance but did have a Full Left Knee Replacement paid for by the NHS at a local Spire Hospital.

It would have cost around £15, 000 if l'd paid for it. But the operation was still performed by my NHS Consultant.

Operation went well. But l had difficulties in recovery i walking and live by myself in and l was referred back to the NHS for a month to a rehab Unit/ Nursing Home intense daily physio sessions

Further to the above, it put money into the NHS for using facilities that would have stood empty and took me off the waiting list freeing up an initial consultation, the actual treatment in a suitable area which involved three members of staff and the follow up treatment for the removal of stitches and further check that all was progressing well. In total I had five separate appointments, none of which were done by NHS staff in their contracted hours.

M0nica

Earthmother9

Private Health Insurance is a bit of a cheek, because in many cases they use NHS Hospital and equipment which lengthens the waiting lists for others.

That is incorrect. Most people paying for private medecine are seen in specialist private hospital. Where NHS facilities are used by private patients, they pay an enhanced price for the use to the benefit of the NHS hospital providing the facility.

Totally agree . I've already said this but clearly people don't read posts. My treatment for skin cancer was done in an NHS hospital and I paid the NHS separately for the use of the facilities, which took place outside the normal hours. My initial consultation was in a private hospital. All the staff involved were working outside of their contracted NHS hours and were paid by me.

Earthmother9

Private Health Insurance is a bit of a cheek, because in many cases they use NHS Hospital and equipment which lengthens the waiting lists for others.

That is incorrect. Most people paying for private medecine are seen in specialist private hospital. Where NHS facilities are used by private patients, they pay an enhanced price for the use to the benefit of the NHS hospital providing the facility.

Be very wary, anything you have ever consulted a health professional about prior to signing up may result in not being covered if it recurs or relates to something arisen no matter how long ago.

Luckygirl3

Teazel2

We have gone with Benenden Healthcare, not the same level of cover but does include private GP phone consultations, diagnostics and minor surgery procedures. Cost is £15 per month each. It supplements the NHS, but does not cover joint replacements or more major healthcare or on going treatment but we thought it good value for the cost imvolved.

I've looked this up. There are lots of exclusions. Have you found the GP consultations helpful? Or, without giving medical details, have any other services been available to you?
I have a very unhelpful GP surgery and am wondering if this aspect might be useful. If you use this service do you know if you have to travel to a Benenden centre for this?

We also have Benenden insurance and my husband had a double hernia operation there a couple of months ago. We were very impressed with the care, facilities and expertise of Benenden.
If you live within an hour of their imposing premises in Kent then you would be expected to go there, otherwise they pay for treatments in other hospitals
I also used the GP service when I couldn’t get an appointment with my own GP. I needed antibiotics and I therefore had to pay for a private prescription rather than an nhs one, which I was happy to do

Perhaps it is queue jumping, but at least it means some one else in the queue can be seen quicker. We had private health care for years until it became prohibitively expensive, a bit scary at first without the safety net. But so far no complaints about our NHS. My DH received prompt and fabulous treatment for his prostrate cancer, although a few years ago now. I do just wish that NHS hospitals had the option of paying for a private room like they used to. I’m such a light sleeper I wouldn’t close my eyes on a ward. And I’m not great at sharing a bathroom either!

Teazel2

We have gone with Benenden Healthcare, not the same level of cover but does include private GP phone consultations, diagnostics and minor surgery procedures. Cost is £15 per month each. It supplements the NHS, but does not cover joint replacements or more major healthcare or on going treatment but we thought it good value for the cost imvolved.

My uncle had this, it does somewhat help to queue jump, in that access to GP and to diagnosis is faster, but then a bit of a strong word needed to get NHS treatment.

I paid privately for some dental treatment when I was told that there was a 5 year waiting list and then had to fight to get a NHS prescription when I attended A&E for something unrelated.

Private Health Insurance is a bit of a cheek, because in many cases they use NHS Hospital and equipment which lengthens the waiting lists for others.

My DIL had private health insurance from work and used it for kidney problems without much success, ending up in an NHS hospital a few times.
Eventually she was referred to the NHS Kidney Unit in a major London hospital and it transpired that much of the advice about diet that she had been given was completely wrong. When she changed her diet most of her problems disappeared, and whenever she has any problems now she can go straight in to see someone at the unit.
My son had similar problems when we used my husbands health insurance for him as a child, all they came up with was a generic (and useless) diagnosis of IBS. Later NHS investigations were far more successful.
I can see that private health insurance would be useful to sidestep long queues for joint replacement, but for virtually everything else (and particularly for cardiac problems) the NHS wins hands down.

I have health insurance and think it is very expensive - but continue because in case of something urgent and serious it will give me quicker care. But - hindsight is a wonderful thing - I wish I'd started a special savings account long ago and put my 'premiums' into it. Of course it takes time to build up if you do that and insurance is available to help you almost as soon as you join. Recently had a new hip using insurance - almost no waiting and good care. I feel the NHS needs to be better funded - but so does so much at the moment. Good luck whichever route you take.

DH had BUPA insurance when working and we carried it on in retirement so that his pre existing conditions were still covered. I have carried on with this but never used it myself. The fees have increased so much that I'm already paying for me the same amount we used to pay for a couple.
Have considered stopping it and putting away money but ,whatever others have said, if there's a need for a serious operation `I would have to save these fees for years before they covered the costs that are incurred. We have also always chosen the specialist we want and never had to make do with less experienced ones as mentioned above. The level of cover you choose determines which hospitals you can be treated in but this does not seem to apply for major procedures in which cases we were able to go to whichever hospital the consultant decide upon without any problems from BUPA.

I agree it's queue jumping but do you want to die while queueing, experience severe pain while queueing, have your illness become worse or untreatable while queueing, suffer loss of income while queueing or see the Royals getting treated while you queue?

I had to seek private treatment to deal with a serious misdiagnosis by an NHS specialist.

Yes, lovesbach you are missing something, the private patient that returns to the NHS with a battery of tests goes on the waiting list according to clinical need, just like any other NHS patient. The delay in NHS patients getting prompt tests frequently results in them needing more treatment which is more expensive and more time consuming whereas many private patients come off lists completely because they don't need treatment or need more minor treatment and get it done privately. In an Ideal world we'd all get treated quickly and efficiently but we don't live in that Ideal world.
My skin cancer would have probably needed a skin graft if I'd waited to have it done by NHS (9 months wait) and it would have been done by excision which is quicker and cheaper but runs the risk of it returning. Done privately I had it done in a week by Mohs, ie examinined by lab to ensure I was cancer free and didn't need a skin graft. I paid £3,045, £2,000 to consultant and 2 other staff, £1,045 to the NHS for the use of the facilities which were used in the evening outside normal NHS clinic and treatment time. I paid privately to wear a holter monitor for a week to get an accurate diagnosis of the arrhythmia that proved difficult to diagnose as it was intermittent. This meant I was able to get the treatment I needed ( after a very long wait) and come off a waiting list. I don't think anyone should be made to feel guilty about spending their own money on medical tests and treatment, I certainly don't think I have adversely affected any NHS patients, quite like opposite.

Just to add to my previous post here, in late 2023 a routine dental check-up revealed discolouration inside one cheek. The dentist referred me to the NHS via the 2-week pathway which means you MUST be seen within 2 weeks. After 4 weeks I had heard nothing so contacted my dentist. He discovered that due to staff shortages the 2-week pathway could not be handled by the NHS locally and would now be at least 12 weeks. I invoked my private insurance and saw a consultant that week, had two lots of biopsies, and CT and MRI scans, plus a full report given to me. In the end I got my NHS appointment at 8 weeks but as I had already had the biopsies and scans this speeded things up a bit. I hadn't jumped any queues at all and saved the NHS the cost of the scans and biopsies, as well as some time.

The cancer was Stage 2 - who knows what it might have been with a 12-week wait for an initial appointment under the NHS. All that said, my NHS treatments was faultless in every way - of course I would say that as it seems to have been successful.

Thank you so much, everyone, for your replies - after reading all of them we’re not going to take out private health insurance, but instead set up a savings account for medical treatment to dip into if needed.

growstuff

No LovesBach it doesn't work like that. There is a limited number of doctors, so NHS patients get pushed down the list. Private patients don't "release" appointments for NHS patients. They pay a premium to queue jump. Doctors can't see NHS patients if they're busy with their private patients.

I must admit I was feeling a bit smug when I had an MRI scan before my breast cancer op. I had been sitting in the waiting room with a private patient whose appointment was before mine. She was called in and then reappeared a few minutes later, very angry and swearing her head off. I was the called in early.

Apparently, her insurance company refused to pay for an MRI until she had had an ultrasound (which she hadn't had). I hadn't had an ultrasound either, but my NHS consultant said it was unnecessary and booked me directly for an MRI, which is much more expensive than an ultrasound. I'm sure she had one in the end, but she had to wait longer than I did and I expect somebody made more money out of her procedures.

That was exactly my point about the other side of the discussion. The consultant that I knew of wasn't working for the NHS from 4pm each day - he was seeing private patients. Clearly not helpful to an NHS waiting list. However, if three of his private patients returned to NHS care then surely the waiting list grows longer by three - or am I missing something?

growstuff

Monica About the only self-funding I can possibly afford is seeing a dental hygienist, which is the only medical treatment not covered by my HC2 certificate.

I wasn't talking about your situation I was just stating the facts of the actual situation. people are relying more and more on self funding and less and less on private health insurance.