Private medical insurance in retirement

ukdw

I also carried on with the same provider after retiring due to continued cover for pre-existing conditions. 

When I got a big price hike each year I was sometimes able to negotiate a few free months to continue with the cover.

But for me the straw that broke the camels back was a big price hike the year after the bad covid year where for most of that previous year there was very little cover they had to fund due to the emergency arrangements, 

CarolWHerts

I continued with BUPA on a personal basis after I retired and they started off charging me half of what they had been charging my employer (and on which I paid tax). We were a very small group scheme (only about half a dozen people) and I suspect one person had been a heavy claimant with consequent impact on premium for everyone. The premium has not surprisingly risen over the past 3 years and I now pay about £250 per month for full cover including London hospitals, although I have a pretty light claims record, only minor stuff. As other posters have said, health is the number one priority for the coming years and much as I love the NHS, I have limited confidence in its capacity to deliver. PHI may become unsustainable in the long term if premiums rise to silly levels so we also plan a substantial emergency fund that could be used for self-funding if needed, or for other things. We know how lucky we are to have these options.