Private Medical Cover

cfw1994

Sorry, should never use acronyms 🤣
Your Mileage May Vary, to save others the google 🫣

I think you are right about a move towards hybrid.
Pretty sure Benenden Health offers a sort of half-way house: speeds up some pieces at a lower cost than full “health insurance”.  Something we did look at but discounted at the time.  Maybe I should revisit it.  

pterri

Quick update, not going for private cover. Just too damn expensive. My biggest gripe is GP cover, it’s so important to treat the minor stuff as it’s often where more serious issues are picked up, my GP has got slightly better recently having said that. My old work insurer AXA included this service https://doctorcareanywhere.com/pricing?hsCtaTracking=b1f7f321-c928-4182-bbf1-369fe54383d1%7Cf7c61cfd-8f8e-4a3a-983d-be4f16974e0c online only I think but ‘only ‘ £149 per year. I’d normally be a bit sceptical burnt they are used by many of the big insurers so I assume they are reputable. I’m considering it. 

artyboy

These days I'm covered under Mrs Arty's work policy. I originally looked at extending the cover I had from my last job, but BUPA insisted on treating it as a new policy, with all the old things I'd been treated for either excluded, or used as a means to jack up the price.

IIRC, they wanted the best part of £500/month out of me. Erm..... no thanks...

MallyGirl

pterri said:

Quick update, not going for private cover. Just too damn expensive. My biggest gripe is GP cover, it’s so important to treat the minor stuff as it’s often where more serious issues are picked up, my GP has got slightly better recently having said that. My old work insurer AXA included this service https://doctorcareanywhere.com/pricing?hsCtaTracking=b1f7f321-c928-4182-bbf1-369fe54383d1%7Cf7c61cfd-8f8e-4a3a-983d-be4f16974e0c online only I think but ‘only ‘ £149 per year. I’d normally be a bit sceptical burnt they are used by many of the big insurers so I assume they are reputable. I’m considering it. 

My retirement health cover is with AXA and includes this GP service but I haven't needed to use it yet. I am paying £160 pcm to cover myself and my 23 yo daughter who is still in uni. BUPA wanted £430 to continue my cover with them post employment 

MyRealNameToo

cfw1994 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Diddidi said:

I went through this decision process when I was made redundant and then decided to take early retirement. I had various quotes from different providers and in the end just decided to put into a savings account what I would have spent on a policy (£300 per month). That way, I have total control of the funds, no messing about with authorisations and, if I never use it, then it goes to my estate. If I need treatment I’d go for for NHS but perhaps pay for tests etc privately to reduce the waiting game. Having said that, DH was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and NHS was brilliant.

Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, you exchange the risk of a big loss for the definite small loss (aka the premiums). 

So sure if you develop no medical conditions then having the £300 a month in your own bank account is great but if you have a major illness your £300 a month you've been saving won't come close to paying for private medical care. 

Within 2 years of transferring to a private policy the Mrs had to spend almost 2 months in a private hospital at a cost well over £60,000. NHS had long waiting lists and any inpatient treatment would have been on an open ward rather than a private room. She wasnt bed bound during her treatment and the private hospital had decent food menus, a full schedule of activities she could choose to be involved in or not etc. NHS would have been sitting in the same bed all day every day for weeks. 

Have had two claims since that and at the moment our payouts are about double what we have paid in so far. Obviously we are a minority but you risk being a minority with your savings pot. 

For certain things, in particular cancer, the NHS does tend to be good and responsive but there are plenty of things they arent. Father and his brother both had major heart attacks on the same day, both were quickly determined to need a triple bypass. His brother had treatment under PMI within a few weeks and was back home within the month and lived another 25 years. My father was in hospital for 4 months with the operation keep getting pushed back and he died on the operating table when they finally got round to it.

PMI does heavily push the fact they have access to other treatments not available on the NHS for Cancer. Whilst it's true for some cancers I'm not sure it's as universal as they make out. 

Just to check….are you saying you have spent in excess of £30k on premiums?
Maybe that is over many years?

I have to agree with @Cobbler_tone when they said “Ultimately, if everyone accounted for every eventuality you’d be working to the grave!”.
I have US old workmates who I know will work perhaps 3-5 years beyond when they want to retire because of the cost of US healthcare.  

To me, those are the years when I will likely be healthiest - the start of retirement - & whilst it is obviously a gamble not to take private health insurance, the balance is having those extra years of flexibility & freedom, which is how I view retirement 🤷‍♂️

I said I've claimed more than double of all the premiums I've paid so yes I've paid under £30k in premiums for the years/decades of cover. 

Insurance is a risk transfer mechanism, for me as a self employed person I'd rather be well and working than unwell and unable to work and not earning. I have income protection for a long term illness but for mid term stuff is where PMI comes in. Feel it unfair to have PMI and wife not to so we cover both. 

pterri said:

Quick update, not going for private cover. Just too damn expensive. My biggest gripe is GP cover, it’s so important to treat the minor stuff as it’s often where more serious issues are picked up, my GP has got slightly better recently having said that. My old work insurer AXA included this service https://doctorcareanywhere.com/pricing?hsCtaTracking=b1f7f321-c928-4182-bbf1-369fe54383d1%7Cf7c61cfd-8f8e-4a3a-983d-be4f16974e0c online only I think but ‘only ‘ £149 per year. I’d normally be a bit sceptical burnt they are used by many of the big insurers so I assume they are reputable. I’m considering it. 

GPs in the private setting, in my experience, are very different... they are mainly the door opener to consultants  for even relatively minor conditions whereas NHS are the exact opposite, targeted to deal with matter themselves and only refer to consultants at the last resort. 

Wife has a skin condition which occasionally flares, depending on severity its treated with a topical gel or a tablet. NHS has always simply prescribed whereas private GP did a referral to a dermatologist