Private Healthcare Costs
Discussion
Hi Sunni, i specialise in private healthcare so i can help you with your query. Private medical insurance rates are calculated with a number of factors including age, postcode area, claims incidence and level of benefit selected.
I am not advertising but if I can help further with your query please drop me a pm or email marc.smith@wdenis.co.uk
I am not advertising but if I can help further with your query please drop me a pm or email marc.smith@wdenis.co.uk
We all pay a lot of tax to fund the NHS, why bother with Private Medical Insurance?
I can think of lots of better things to spend £70+ a month on- almost a £1000 per year. Private Medical Insurance doesn't buy you better emergency care and waiting lists are nowhere near as long as they used to be for routine operations.
I can think of lots of better things to spend £70+ a month on- almost a £1000 per year. Private Medical Insurance doesn't buy you better emergency care and waiting lists are nowhere near as long as they used to be for routine operations.
Edited by Paul Dishman on Tuesday 9th August 23:00
Paul Dishman said:
If you want an honest answer, I think its a waste of money
Private Medical cover in the UK means - No trauma cover,
- No acute medicine cover,
- No A+E cover ,
- Limited specialities for elective work outside London,
- Mainly crap small hospitals without 24 hour decent medical cover who dump on the NHS if there is the slightest problem ( even a wound infection) - a wine list is all well and good but what happens when you start to bleed post op ... plus all the exclusions from private hospitals because of their lack of contingencies.
- Limited tertiary cover and what tertiary cover there is can't cope with the full range of work ....
- Increasing amounts of the elective work that could go private goes private anyway but paid for by the NHS ( and if you want the wine list you pay the 'top-up')
Honestly, my family's needed pretty much every branch of the NHS I can think of and while it's not been perfect I've never experienced anything that would've been even remotely within the scope of what you'd get improved on by having private cover - it's almost always the same consultants, remember, you might see them a bit quicker is all. If you happen to need a very straightforward elective op you might be able to have it in a dinky little private hospital with your own room - but having your own room means not being observed much, and as others have said as soon as anything gets the tiniest bit complicated they'll dump you on the NHS - who will then be at a disadvantage to help you as they won't have easy access to full notes etc.
I get private healthcare through work (mostly because I work internationally and there is no NHS in a lot of places) but have still used it in the UK a few times.
Have always done my medicals privately - lovely environment, big telly in the waiting room, loads of free tea/coffee.
Has paid for glasses/contact lenses and will eventually pay for me to get laser eyes installed.
Has paid for me to see a good sports physio with no long wait getting a referral from GP etc. that you get with the NHS
The one big thing the NHS did for me was sort me out with my orthotics for a while(spazzy flat feet) - took over 6 months, with consultations and referrals flying around all over the place and getting them replaced was even more of a hurdle - doctor tried to tell me that the off the shelf ones are as good as the custom mould ones. Ended up going private (using my dad's insurance - I was still a student) - couple of weeks and I was walking about with my snazzy new orthotics.
The NHS no doubt does a lot of good and they did a brilliant job of looking after my grandad when he died, but unless you have something seriously wrong with you, it seems like a battle to get anything done.
Have always done my medicals privately - lovely environment, big telly in the waiting room, loads of free tea/coffee.
Has paid for glasses/contact lenses and will eventually pay for me to get laser eyes installed.
Has paid for me to see a good sports physio with no long wait getting a referral from GP etc. that you get with the NHS
The one big thing the NHS did for me was sort me out with my orthotics for a while(spazzy flat feet) - took over 6 months, with consultations and referrals flying around all over the place and getting them replaced was even more of a hurdle - doctor tried to tell me that the off the shelf ones are as good as the custom mould ones. Ended up going private (using my dad's insurance - I was still a student) - couple of weeks and I was walking about with my snazzy new orthotics.
The NHS no doubt does a lot of good and they did a brilliant job of looking after my grandad when he died, but unless you have something seriously wrong with you, it seems like a battle to get anything done.
Mixed reviews about private healthcare then, some comments are correct in that there can be ceilings up to what one can claim for and only acute flair ups of chronic conditions are covered by pmi. I think what people don't realize is that for the larger and more serious treatment requirements pmi can really come into it's own, the lack of waiting times is a major point which is often misinterpreted, why do you think the nhs sends certain cases to private facilities? Because they have to alleviate some pressure. With pmi there is no postcode lottery for expensive drug requirements, if your policy covers cancer amd the drug is licensed and recommended by your specialist then you will receive it, this is not the case with the nhs. Let's not forget too that a course of Avastin or Herceptin for example can cost up to £80000, so if the nhs doesn't cover this what happens?
As more people rely on the nhs as much as they do have some fantastic facilities, the pressure is ever building and pmi provides piece of mind at the most difficult times for families here and overseas. There are so many options available to suit all budgets and policies which are designed to compliment the nhs faculties.
As more people rely on the nhs as much as they do have some fantastic facilities, the pressure is ever building and pmi provides piece of mind at the most difficult times for families here and overseas. There are so many options available to suit all budgets and policies which are designed to compliment the nhs faculties.
ST270 said:
Mixed reviews about private healthcare then, some comments are correct in that there can be ceilings up to what one can claim for and only acute flair ups of chronic conditions are covered by pmi. I think what people don't realize is that for the larger and more serious treatment requirements pmi can really come into it's own, the lack of waiting times is a major point which is often misinterpreted, why do you think the nhs sends certain cases to private facilities? Because they have to alleviate some pressure. With pmi there is no postcode lottery for expensive drug requirements, if your policy covers cancer amd the drug is licensed and recommended by your specialist then you will receive it, this is not the case with the nhs. Let's not forget too that a course of Avastin or Herceptin for example can cost up to £80000, so if the nhs doesn't cover this what happens?
As more people rely on the nhs as much as they do have some fantastic facilities, the pressure is ever building and pmi provides piece of mind at the most difficult times for families here and overseas. There are so many options available to suit all budgets and policies which are designed to compliment the nhs faculties.
Spoken like a true salesman As more people rely on the nhs as much as they do have some fantastic facilities, the pressure is ever building and pmi provides piece of mind at the most difficult times for families here and overseas. There are so many options available to suit all budgets and policies which are designed to compliment the nhs faculties.
Most important point here "policies which are designed to compliment the nhs faculties". PMI does not provide a
replacement for NHS care and you have to see it as an additional payment to the one you currently make for NHS care. You cannot have full health care in the UK through the private sector. Before anyone starts weebling on about not needing to pay taxes if you have Private medical insurance.
And tell me (because I genuinely want to know) how much a month would I have to pay (before I got breast cancer of course) to be able to have herceptin and how many months would I get before I reached my ceiling of care?
Do you know (and now I am being antagonistic) what the NNT is for herceptin? It is sadly one of those not so wonder drugs that the drug company desperately need to make their money back on from Daily Mail readers before it comes off licence.
Antonia said:
<snip>
Do you know (and now I am being antagonistic) what the NNT is for herceptin? It is sadly one of those not so wonder drugs that the drug company desperately need to make their money back on from Daily Mail readers before it comes off licence.
this is a valid point, there;s been a lot of ill informed stuff said i nthe media about Herceptin and other such Drugs .... Do you know (and now I am being antagonistic) what the NNT is for herceptin? It is sadly one of those not so wonder drugs that the drug company desperately need to make their money back on from Daily Mail readers before it comes off licence.
I have private healthcare through work and have also been having treatment for another condition on the NHS. Where the private healthcare has come into its own, was waiting time for physio and consultants for a back condition.
NHS took several months before I could even get an initial physio appointment, whereas with private healthcare I saw a consultant + physio within a couple of weeks.
However when I've had problems with my hearing and with my partner's diabetes, the NHS has been absolutely fantastic - interestingly when I was referred to an MRI to check my head (regarding the hearing problems), the scan was done at a private hospital a few miles away (probably 15-20 miles). However the diabetic care centre is at our local hospital, and in fact we were given a choice of 2-3 hospitals. One of which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole after some shocking A&E care.
So it's swings and roundabouts; some parts of the NHS (at least around here) seem to work hitch free and very well, whereas others are completely broken.
With the private care - the hospital care itself was sub-standard in my opinion. After surgery (yep a nice private room which as was mentioned means you get minimal observation) I collapsed onto the floor in the bathroom. My husband pulled the emergency cord, sat with me, helped me to my feet and bakc into bed, and it was probably 5-10 minutes before any nursing staff popped a head around the door.
NHS took several months before I could even get an initial physio appointment, whereas with private healthcare I saw a consultant + physio within a couple of weeks.
However when I've had problems with my hearing and with my partner's diabetes, the NHS has been absolutely fantastic - interestingly when I was referred to an MRI to check my head (regarding the hearing problems), the scan was done at a private hospital a few miles away (probably 15-20 miles). However the diabetic care centre is at our local hospital, and in fact we were given a choice of 2-3 hospitals. One of which I wouldn't touch with a bargepole after some shocking A&E care.
So it's swings and roundabouts; some parts of the NHS (at least around here) seem to work hitch free and very well, whereas others are completely broken.
With the private care - the hospital care itself was sub-standard in my opinion. After surgery (yep a nice private room which as was mentioned means you get minimal observation) I collapsed onto the floor in the bathroom. My husband pulled the emergency cord, sat with me, helped me to my feet and bakc into bed, and it was probably 5-10 minutes before any nursing staff popped a head around the door.
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