Private medical insurance in retirement

Pat38493

Does anyone who is retired already have private medical insurance?

One of the things I will lose when I stop working is that my company pays for this.  I have hardly ever used it but my wife has used it to get a hip replacement and she feels that she probably needs to get the other one done in the next year or two although she has not yet been officially told it’s needed so hopefully it’s not a pre-existing condition.

Plan A is for me to continue working until it’s done, but I’m wondering if it’s also an option to take over the insurance into a new policy?  I bit of research seemed to indicate that the premiums for a couple aged 55 to 65 are about £1.5 to £2.5K per year which I must admit is less than I was expecting.

Having spent the day in our local hospital A&E department yesterday after my wife was brought there in an ambulance for reasons which I won’t go into (she was sent home late last night and is ok at the moment), I have seen the battlefield hospital type conditions there where the corridors behind the waiting room (cunningly shielded from instant public view) are full of patients on stretchers and they are using the corridors as a pseudo ward.  I don’t think we would like to wait years if we need a procedures like a hip replacement when we are in the later fit and active years of our lives. 

BoGoF

Would very much doubt it. I imagine your employer has a 'group' policy with the provider and each employee won't have an 'individual' policy.

subjecttocontract

There are alternatives such as 'Simply Health' who offer a tiered medical insurance ranging from £13 to £108 per month for the two of you. Easy to find details online.

Pat38493

BoGoF said:

Would very much doubt it. I imagine your employer has a 'group' policy with the provider and each employee won't have an 'individual' policy.

Yes of course, but I’ve seen it written in a few places that some providers will let you convert your employer membership into a personal membership if you leave the company.  In any case, you can just take out a new policy with whatever private medical company.  I was also interested to see whether other retirees see this as an important item for budgeting.

westv

I would imagine the OP would be offered a policy on similar terms (but not the same premium) by his current insurer.

OldMusicGuy

I had private healthcare when working, definitely didn't want to continue it when retired due to the high annual cost. But we are both healthy and live a healthy lifestyle, so we are happy to take that risk. We will trust the NHS for heart/cancer treatment, we do have Beneden which gives cover against long NHS delays for many things. However, it doesn't cover hip and knee replacement and we would consider funding those ourselves. I've been retired 5 years and have easily saved enough in health insurance premiums to fund a hip replacement (which it looks like I might need at some point in the future).

It does depend where you live. In our town the local GP surgery is fantastic and local hospitals so far have been pretty good (my 96 year-old FiL is in a care home near us and has needed various investigations/treatments). So for us, private health care is a complete waste of money.

Also, bear in mind private health care doesn't cover A&E - if you have a life threatening incident, you will still be at the mercy of the NHS. So your recent experience is not really relevant......

Marcon

Pat38493 said:

Plan A is for me to continue working until it’s done, but I’m wondering if it’s also an option to take over the insurance into a new policy?  I bit of research seemed to indicate that the premiums for a couple aged 55 to 65 are about £1.5 to £2.5K per year which I must admit is less than I was expecting.

The only way to know is to ask your employer's current provider. No point other people speculating here on what might or might not happen: check and find out the facts.

Somebody

We have it.  As mentioned, if you leave your company group scheme then the provider would normally let you carry on cover without having to declare health history like you would on a new policy on the open market.  

My wife had company cover for us as a couple and was offered continued cover when she left but obviously at our cost. Various levels of cover options including optical (spectacles, eye tests) and dental.  I particularly like the access to GPs over video which is available at any time of day via an app on your phone.

oldernonethewiser

If this is something you can get at a reasonable price and would cover a hip replacement then worth considering. 

Last hip replacement a relative got about 8 years ago was £13K

Pat38493

Somebody said:

We have it.  As mentioned, if you leave your company group scheme then the provider would normally let you carry on cover without having to declare health history like you would on a new policy on the open market.  

My wife had company cover for us as a couple and was offered continued cover when she left but obviously at our cost. Various levels of cover options including optical (spectacles, eye tests) and dental.  I particularly like the access to GPs over video which is available at any time of day via an app on your phone.

Thanks - was the cost to you a lot more than what your employer was paying?  (My employer tells me what the annual costs are even though they pay it as it obviously has to go on the P11D).

Marcon said:

Pat38493 said:

Plan A is for me to continue working until it’s done, but I’m wondering if it’s also an option to take over the insurance into a new policy?  I bit of research seemed to indicate that the premiums for a couple aged 55 to 65 are about £1.5 to £2.5K per year which I must admit is less than I was expecting.

The only way to know is to ask your employer's current provider. No point other people speculating here on what might or might not happen: check and find out the facts.

Yes I thought of this - I did worry a bit that if I start asking the healthcare provider about how much it will cost, would it then get back to my employer that I’m planning to leave soon.  I suspect they are not allowed to do that but it did worry me a bit.

Somebody

Pat38493 said:

Somebody said:

We have it.  As mentioned, if you leave your company group scheme then the provider would normally let you carry on cover without having to declare health history like you would on a new policy on the open market.  

My wife had company cover for us as a couple and was offered continued cover when she left but obviously at our cost. Various levels of cover options including optical (spectacles, eye tests) and dental.  I particularly like the access to GPs over video which is available at any time of day via an app on your phone.

Thanks - was the cost to you a lot more than what your employer was paying?  (My employer tells me what the annual costs are even though they pay it as it obviously has to go on the P11D).

Hard to say really as it wasn't really like for like - e.g. no optical/dental cover, no "doctor at hand" app previously.  Company cover included London hospitals, but personal cover doesn't.  First thing they did when we went personal was to send us bowel test kits as part of the cover, which we never had on the company cover.  

I oversaw paying company medical cover in a previous job and can say that cost of cover varies a lot from one year to the next, up or down.  What I can also say is that Vitality costs a lot more than say BUPA or AXA/PPP.