Axa health insurance 'guided' list of consultants

aroominyork

I spoke today with Axa about how to reduce the cost of our policy (without changing provider). Axa suggested the guided option which is their list of 16,500 consultants rather than the full 21,000. They say that when you choose your hospital they will offer three or four consultants from their reduced list, from whom we then choose. A couple of good consultants we have seen over the years are on the list, so it doesn’t look like it is for second rate specialists.

Do people have experience of how this option works? Especially, does anyone have experience of asking to see a consultant on the reduced list but not being allowed by Axa to see that person? The reason I ask is that Axa do not guarantee that you can see anyone you want from the reduced list.

Ibrahim5

It's all about control. The 16500 consultants are those who have agreed to being controlled by Axa. The 'guided' option looks like the option for patients that agree to be controlled. Having said that, it's difficult to see what Axa gain by preventing you from seeing the controlled consultant of your choice. It looks like the specialists have been told they will get more patients if they agree to be controlled so you may be directed to one to keep that side of the bargain.

pmduk

It's likely that the consultants on that list have agreed to accept a lower rate for their work.

Ibrahim5

There was a BBC Watchdog programme about it a few years ago. Say an eye surgeon works 200 days a year for the NHS for £100K. He operates on 14 cataracts a day. He earns about £36 a cataract. The private eye surgeon on the Watchdog programme charged £1200 per eye or £16800 a day. AXA would only reimburse about £300 per cataract so reducing the surgeon's income to £4200 for the day. So yes the consultants on that list have agreed to accept a lower rate. These are all just the surgeon's fees. Not the total cost of the procedure to the patient.