Is Private Health Insurance Really Worth It?
One thing that England (and all of the UK) has that is the envy of the world is the NHS, as we can access free healthcare through a GP, specialist or emergency care. Compare that with the USA (people with serious illness often don’t visit doctors for years, as it would cost them thousands).
That’s why you see those poor people on programs like Dr Pimple Popper, who are living with huge benign tumours, it’s simply because without money, there is no NHS to visit, to remove them.
But of course the NHS has huge waiting lists, which leads many people to opt for private health insurance. Why the NHS has huge waiting lists is another story, but rather than focus on why there are people in corridors, it would be better to focus on preventive health;
Preventive health tips from an NHS doctor!
- Good nutrition (not letting junk food lobbyists rule)
- Walkable communities for natural exercise
- Basic incomes (so people have better life/work balance)
- Focus on clean air and water in communities
These alone would drastically reduce the burden of NHS costs, as would decent pensions and benefits for carers. This would promote better public health (and people with money can then go for day trips, afternoon tea and short holidays, which would help bring in income for local shops and hotels).
It’s a no-brainer, but apparently nobody in government ever seems to cotton on to this.
What is Private Medical Insurance?
This is provided by companies, as an alternative to the NHS, if you are fed up of waiting or not happy with your treatment. Be careful, as often you could be unhappy with an NHS consultant, pay for private cover – then find the doctor is the same person, as many work in both areas.
Usually you pay monthly premiums. There are many companies (the best-known is BUPA). But know that these companies employ people to go through claims, often (as profit-driven companies) to try to find loopholes, in order not to pay out. Omit one tiny thing, and you likely won’t get paid.
And you also have to declare existing medical conditions, and wait for a set period, before being allowed to claim anyway.
Most private health insurance covers elective surgeries (like hip replacements) and specialist consultations, but won’t cover ongoing conditions or emergencycare.
The Hospital Saturday Fund is a registered charity that started out to help people, before the NHS. You obviously have to pay premiums for a while before receiving benefits. But you can then get a bit of money back on dental, optician and holistic services, plus hospital stays.
Private health insurance does not cover organ transplants, normal pregnancy/childbirth costs, cosmetic surgery (for appearance reasons) nor injuries related to dangerous sports.
You may get quicker access to treatments like physiotherapy (but to be honest, the premiums you pay may be better used just finding a local physiotherapist in your town).
Private medical insurance is expensive (around £50 to £100 a month or £30 for children), and premiums go up as you age. So by the time you start getting age-related illness, you may not have any money left, and need the NHS anyway!
What are NHS Political Party Policies?
Any time you turn on the news, you are sure to find an MP from one party or the other, talking about how to save our NHS, and promising all kinds of goodies. So let’s look beyond the soundbites, and find out what the main policies are to fund our NHS, so private health insurance is not needed:
Labour.
Wishes to reduce waiting times by investing in more staff (especially GPs and midwives) and digital ideas (like seeing a GP online). It hopes to build 50 hospital and improve mental health services.
Conservative
Add 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors, and also build 40 new hospitals and increase mental health care support, and reduce managers by 5,500. And legislation to prevent doctor strikes.
Lib Dem
Spend an extra £5 billion a year, focusing on free personal care and mental health hubs for young people.
Green
Properly fund health and social care (by £30 billion by taxing the super-wealthy), remove profit motives and guarantee access to an NHS dentist.
Reform UK
The claim made by some that Reform UK wish to scrap the NHS is not true, but Nigel Farage has said that we need to look at how to fund the NHS, as just throwing money at it, is not working.
He’s a fan of the French system that works a bit like ‘you pay if you can, not if you can’t), and wants to look at something similar. But still wants the NHS to be free at point of use (say emergencies). So not like the USA.
It proposes spending £17 billion on the NHS (so way more than the main parties, but half of the Greens, as it would not tax the super-wealthy). The promise would be to eradicate waiting lists in 2 years, and would also give 20% tax relief for private health insurance and providers.
