Healthcare Cashplan Discussion Area

System

My wife and I currently have plan with HSA.

We both contibute each month. I more than her. Amounting to some £50 pounds per month.

We claim on average some £200-£250 back yearly on such as Optician,Dentist,Consultancy fee.

I realise we are paying much more than we get back-but like all insurance is that not the case, bearing in mind you are paying for that time when you are ill and may run up quite a bill.

I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS.

System

Hi, I have health insurance through my work, £120 per month for family cover. I will be moving to another company next month and they do not provide healthcare. I am thinking of keeping up the payments on the existing plan (standard life).

From my basic understanding of the cash back policies, would I still get the same level of cover for a fraction of the cost?

robnye

my wife and i pay the lowest membership (purely due to other monthly expenses), ie £8 + each per month.

the amounts we can claim, whilst being relatively low, still enable us to claim for all dentist/opticle work (except when new glasses are required.

admittedly going on my bodies current form, we may need to increase this in the future, but if that is the case, then there is usually a settling in period, albeit not as long as the 2 years for other policies.

we are happy with HSA, and have been members since before our children where born, some 15+ years.

robnye

from my understanding ( i have HSA, but i have looked at others)

they all have different levels of cover.... the more you pay in each month, the more you can claim for, ie higher amounts and on some policies more illnesses/services (couldnt think of a better word for services)

it would be worth you checking with standard life, as to whether the policy is tied into your old company or not!

MSE_Martin

Matt Tully

No you'd unfortuantely not be correct. Cashplans and health insurance are VERY different.

Health insurance (should) provides you with usually (private) treatment without needing to wait regardless of what is wrong with you, with no limits on treatment. (though there are a range of exclusions.

Cashplans simply pay you cashback on a range of simple treatments. It's great for osteopathy, or dentistry, but for big medical treatments if you want pricate not NHS it wont be that helpful.

If you needed a hip replaced for example or your child got a nasty illness. While Private Medical Insurance would mean they'd see a consultant, go to a private hospital and get seen asap. With a cashplan it'd give say £20 per night you were in hospital and a budget (say £300) to see a private consultant. The rest you'd foot yourself.

I'm not recommending medical insurance just saying cashplans and Medical insurance are very very different beasts. If you look in the best buys section of the site you'll see i've done a note on finding cheap private medical insurance too.

Martin

robnye

from my understanding ( i have HSA, but i have looked at others)

they all have different levels of cover.... the more you pay in each month, the more you can claim for, ie higher amounts and on some policies more illnesses/services (couldnt think of a better word for services)

it would be worth you checking with standard life, as to whether the policy is tied into your old company or not!

sorry i have just reread your post (and my reply)...... i was filling a hsa form at the time (claiming for my most recent ostepath session), i didnt read your posting properly.

as martin says, health insurance is different to what the likes of HSA cashback scheme provides

System

thanks guys

System

In response to an earlier post on the merits of cash plans and medical insurance.....

Some companies offer cash plans and medical insurance which are designed to 'complement' each other, but from my experience with Simplyhealth (now HSA) they are not always good value for money. So it's probably best to shop around.

As a result of shopping around you may end up with some overlap, as I have. However it did mean I got back £150 on dental costs alone last year, and the plan only cost £105. Otherwise I'd have gone with Simplyhealth and forked out around £95 and got back only £80, not such a good deal! Plus I've got money for bi-annual health screens as well (£200). The other advantage is I can use the cash plan benfits to pick up where the medical insurance doesn't match up, for example consultants for conditions not covered and therapies (e.g. homeopathy) which either aren't covered or where there is a limit on treatment costs.

Cheers,


rod

ksh123

i'd still like to know what you think about moving plans to take advantage of best rates.
after paying into a plan for a couple of years would moving to another really amount to "throwing away" two years of fees?

System

You shouldn't lose anything but may have to go through the qualifying period again. Also read any small print on pre-existing conditions, in particular those you may have suffered from under your existing policy. If you move to another provider those may be excluded.

Rod