Healthcare Cashplans discussion area

Former_MSE_Dan

This discussion relates to the updated Healthcare Cashplans article.

Click reply to discuss.

sockospice

Thought this was interesting, as I've been in one of these schemes for a few years now. Ours is through payroll deduction at work (healthshield) as there is a corporate discount available (I'm paying about £160 a year, get back £120 on each of dental/optical/chiropody etc, also 4 prescriptions paid for a year)

I'd say to all moneysavers if they work for a big company to ask if any payroll deduction schemes are available - if not, would they be willing to start one?

Hayze1980

Once again Martin has said just how much a family could make from the BHSF. Pay in £210 and claim back £1210. But that's not the reality. I signed up to BHSF after reading Martin's first article about it. I had to wait 3 months before I could claim then six months later having only claimed £339.50, they cancelled my policy stating that I was claiming too much and putting an unnecessary strain on them. I am now with the HSA (yes, I know the money making potential is not too good) and I started claiming straight away. They too said (along with everyone else I tried) that if you are making a big profit then they will reveiw your policy and possibly cancel it. So according to the providers you will never make a huge profit with these plans because they will cancel it before you have a chance.

Hayley

Lisa_H

I am at present deciding whether to join one of these schemes but I have a couple of questions: 1) If you only get back a percentage of what you pay in over the year, would it not be better to open a bank account and set up a direct debit to this account to cover your basics like dental care etc, then you dont lose money? 2) What's the difference between a health care plan, dental insurance and something like Denplan? I know the last two only cover dentistry but I'm confused!!!!! I'm in the process of deciding what to do to help me budget.

Thanks

Lisa

sockospice

Lisa_H wrote:

I am at present deciding whether to join one of these schemes but I have a couple of questions: 1) If you only get back a percentage of what you pay in over the year, would it not be better to open a bank account and set up a direct debit to this account to cover your basics like dental care etc, then you dont lose money? 2) What's the difference between a health care plan, dental insurance and something like Denplan? I know the last two only cover dentistry but I'm confused!!!!! I'm in the process of deciding what to do to help me budget.

Thanks

Lisa

Basically these schemes are like cashback. You pay a certain amount into them per month. Then, when you need to go to the dentist/opticians etc, you pay for the treatment, send your receipts off to your provider, and they send you a cheque. You will get back all money up to a maximum per year, depending on how much you pay in.

You could just set up a savings plan, if you don't think you'll use the benefits of a cashback plan (don't wear glasses, for example)

Obviously, dental insurance/Denplan only covers you for dentistry (keep an eye on the small print, there is a fair bit of dental work not covered under these insurances). It really depends what you're likely to need to use.

MSE_Martin

To answer the 'if you only get a percentage back' i think misunderstands the premise. Lets take a basic example, with made up numbers

You have £100 worth of dental £100 worth of optical numbers £200 worth of osteopathy.

Therefore the cost of this is £400, and if you were saving in the bank you would have to pay out £400 (minus the small interest you'd have earned)

Now you have a cashback scheme paying £10 a month - £120 a year. Let's say you get 75% of cash back on each treatment up to a maximum of £100 dental, £100 optical, £200 osteo

This means you've laid out £120 for the plan plus £400 for treatment =£520

Yet you would reclaim £75 on dental £75 on optical and £200 on osteo = £350

Meaning total cost is £170 which is a big saving on the £400 outlay

Remember the % is a % of the COST OF TREATMENT, not the COST OF THE PLAN, you can earn a lot more than the cost of the plan

____________

BHSF. To be honest it didn't do that well this year. I'm very surprised you went for HSA the two winners of the study Forestre and Westfield are both companies I've never heard people being rejected for overclaiming - last year i claimed 5x cost myself with westfield (osteopathy) and got it all no worries

martin

building

Hi there
we are also confused about which one is best for dental payments considering that we need at some stage to have a crown redone, tooth pulled out, polishes and check up. it is not cheap.
we like the idea of getting an option for critical illness . also we may go and live partly abroad so what are the best options there. yes is definitely confusing and westfield is not that interesting when you need a crown done and this costs about £500!!!!!

happy_moneysaver_2

I was interested to see the cashplan details posted although it came a bit late for me because I have just joined one. Looking at the details of some of the other plans I have found mine to be very competitive and at present they are waiving the 6 month qualifying period for dental, optical and chiropody treatments. A £10 M&S voucher also on first payment of scedule.

I have the family (2 Adult cover includes children up to 18 years free).

The scheme is operated by Healthsure Group Limited based in Manchester, found at https://www.healthsure.co.uk or call 0800 085 6636. It's a shame you cannot nominate me because then I receive a £10 M&S voucher too!!!!!
I don't work for them by the way!!! But I am in healthcare.......
Happy cashplan hunting..............

koru

I'm still a bit sceptical about this. I can see that you could potentially do very well out of this, if you have a lot of new medical problems. But it does not seem to be the slam dunk that Martin suggests.

If I think about my medical spend over the last two years, I spent £35 on a dental check up and maybe had a few prescriptions - say £20-30. So, had I been a member of Foresters the last 2 years, I would have paid £144 for the lowest level of cover, and claimed maybe £65.

I do wear glasses, but you replace them maybe once every 5 years. The minimum cover for Foresters would give a maximum £38 refund, so once every 5 years I would get £38. That's an average of £8 per year, so not much. (OK, I could get cover that would pay £140 for glasses, which is £28 per year, on average over 5 years. But that cover would cost £264, so £28 refund on glasses does not justify buying the extra cover.)

If you end up needing a lot of physio, or osteo, or consultations, or stays in hospital, then you might make a profit on these plans, by claiming the higher figures that Martin talks about. But you don't know if you will need it. Any existing conditions are excluded for 2 years. How likely is it that most of us will have something new crop up that needs these things?

I think the article is very useful for people who have already decided they want one of these plans, as it shows the ones that will give the best ratio between pay outs and premiums. But the tone of the article is that these plans are a good idea for everyone, and I am not sure I go along with that.

Martin said: "How can cashplans make such high payouts? The answer is simple ….they don’t. Just because people can claim, doesn’t mean they do. Many people forget to send in their claim forms and there’s no pay out."

I am sure that is right, but I think there will be a lot more people who simply don't have many medical problems, so their claims are minimal, and they would have been better off funding the costs as they arose.

These plans would not survive long if they paid out more than customers paid in. In fact they have to pay out less than is paid in, because they have to meet their administration costs. OK, they can use retained surpluses for a while, but those surpluses kind of prove my point. If they had been paying out more than they receive, they would not have surpluses.

Buying one of these plans is only going to give you a "profit", in the long run, if you are unlucky enough to have more medical problems than the average customer. So buy a plan if you want insurance against the extra cost you will incur if you are that unlucky. But don't buy one thinking it is a dead cert "profit". If you are just averagely sick, or more healthy than average, then simple mathematics suggests you will be worse off under these plans.

Lisa_H

After posting my last message I have looked into this further, including my corporate scheme, and I agree with you Koru. My annual dental bill is £135 (X2 check ups and X1 hygienist!!). I've never been in hospital, I dont wear glasses and would probably not bother with homeopathy or acupunture!! I consider myself to be in good general health. I think I'd be far better to save this money elsewhere. Of course you could say that I dont know when I will need glasses or a couple of fillings etc.... true... but if that's the case it's the same as taking out a warrenty on all those household appliances which we all know, the chances of you using are minimal!!! Obviously, I'm only speaking for me, I'm sure many people could find these schemes useful!

bargainhunt_3

Lisa_h there is an element of truth in what you are saying, and indeed I know many people who pay a fortune for such warranties, and even dental plans which never pay out!

In my case I've so far paid in about £300 but got back round £400, with another £200 due back shortly. As well as the more regular benefits such as dental and optical, I'd also look for additional items like health screening. Most offer around £60-£70 per year, which really is insufficient. However some offer £200 every two years which goes a long way to covering the cost of the basic screens which is usually around £260. Although I've made back my money on the policy and then some I'd say its the health screening option which is one of the most valuable perks. After all prevention is better than cure. also it encourages going to regular health checks which is no bad thing.

Rod