Private Health Insurance

If it helps, down here I’ve had Bupa and Axa.  Both have been fine.

When I was living abroad, I had Bupa which covered everything, though I did have some challenges getting them to cover some treatments. But, having got their approval they covered all expenses with no co-pay. It cost me nearly £1000 a month though!

When we came back to the UK, I took out a lower coverage Bupa policy during the first year, in case I could not use the NHS for something serious, should that happen. I cancelled at the end of the year.

I do think Bupa is good but you have to read the policy well to see what is covered and what is not.


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We used BUPA when we no longer had health cover through my employment, as I left PAYE for a while. One of our toddlers went to see a Consultant in a BUPA hospital, where we were served tea, biscuits and juice as we were early. The Consultant walked in to the waiting room to find us and he was on time.

But what you really need for your daughter, is in case the worst happens and to avoid those wait times to start any urgent treatment.

"Scotland's cancer treatment waiting times are at their worst level in six years.

Only four of the country's 14 health boards met the target of 62 days between referral for a suspected cancer case until the first treatment."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-44564359

I've just used the figures for that disease, and in Scotland, as I know that is where you live. Waiting times can be just as long for things on the other 3 NHS, or that treatment or the drug is not funded by the NHS. Not only does each of the NHS decide what they will fund and what they won't, but all the Trusts in each country will decide who can have some of their funding, even if that is covered by that NHS.

I was just reading that a few Trusts in Scotland will then pay privately when that 62 days wait has passed, while most others will not as that takes money away from their budget for other urgent treatments that they have decided to fund instead.

Twice I needed an MRI and I went straight away, instead of having to wait weeks as an NHS funded patient. As a rough guide, it cost me just over 1k for my dog to have an MRI and that was years ago.

Yeah, that too!

Vitality has served its purpose, but I'm not terribly comfortable with it - will need to re-evaluate it again in the next couple of months. Right now the plan says they can choose the hospital system to use. We suspect they'd shunt us into the NHS hospital here, which isn't where we'd want to go. Especially since there is a private one three blocks from the flat.

Yeah, that too!

Vitality has served its purpose, but I'm not terribly comfortable with it - will need to re-evaluate it again in the next couple of months. Right now the plan says they can choose the hospital system to use. We suspect they'd shunt us into the NHS hospital here, which isn't where we'd want to go. Especially since there is a private one three blocks from the flat.

Perhaps you could ask that private hospital which insurers use it?

I recently picked up an old book from a charity shop, about financial planning for your retirement. It was writen in the early 90s, by somebody who appears to have had a column in a paper in the 70s/80s. On healthcare in retirement, they said that it can be better to have the savings/stocks to pay for treatment rather than using private insurance all the time, so that you choose the hospital where you have the treatment.

Perhaps you could ask that private hospital which insurers use it?

I recently picked up an old book from a charity shop, about financial planning for your retirement. It was writen in the early 90s, by somebody who appears to have had a column in a paper in the 70s/80s. On healthcare in retirement, they said that it can be better to have the savings/stocks to pay for treatment rather than using private insurance all the time, so that you choose the hospital where you have the treatment.

In the USA I would not consider it at all without some kind of insurance as a backup - costs can go over six-figures in the blink of an eye. I don't know a lot of people who can save up that kind of money.  Costs were a lot cheaper in the 70s than they are now. 

My own situation is ok. I have private insurance, at no cost as part of my pension, that will pay for 80% of medical expenses after the first $3,000 excess, with a $6,000 total cap onwhat I'd be expected to pay, and is good anywhere in the world. It's cheaper for me to put what I would have paid in separate premium cost away and save it towards potential medical expense.  Otherwise, it's kinda just throwing money away.  The Daughter, on the other hand, has to deal with the open market due to our current budget constraints and the need for CSI for the EU thingy.

And yeah, I'm checking with that hospital - and also what services they offer. Having access to a hospital for something we don't need, but not offering what we do, would be kinda counter-productive.  I think most of them here don't have emergency rooms - you go to one of the NHS hospitals for that by ambulance?  It's elective procedures you'd use the private hospital for, right?

I think most of them here don't have emergency rooms - you go to one of the NHS hospitals for that by ambulance?  It's elective procedures you'd use the private hospital for, right?

I don't think the private hospitals have A&E in the UK. If you have a minor injury, private doctors will see you evenings and weekends too.

You would use the NHS Trusts (hospitals) A&E for life emergencies, or go to a hospital that has a minor injuries unit (now called Urgent care?) for everything else, or to a GP or drop-in centre, or a chemist.

In the UK, an ambulance would take you to A&E (NHS Trust) but you aren't meant to use an ambulance unless you need care in the ambulance. I have read some who say that they think by using an ambulance they will get seen sooner when they arrive, but that isn't true. In A&E, the urgent always go the front of the queue.

It's elective procedures you'd use the private hospital for, right?

In the UK, yes. But some of the private insurers use NHS hospitals e.g. the two trips to the MRI that I had. That Trust will then get paid by my insurers, which means that money goes towards their budget, instead of taking out their budget as a NHS patient would do.

Some of the NHS Consultants also do private consultations. These can be at a private hospital, or at an NHS hospital as their private patient, or at their home after work, where they have a consultation room.

Got it, thanks. The private hospital closest to us is run by Nuffield Health.

Got it, thanks. The private hospital closest to us is run by Nuffield Health.

They are the BUPA (British United Provident Association) hospitals.

" In 1957 the President of BUPA, Lord Nuffield, suggested the charity might benefit from incorporating his name so was re-registered as the Nuffield Nursing Homes Trust (NNHT)"

"Nuffield Health operates 300 facilities including 31 private hospitals (29 in England, one in Glasgow, Scotland and a joint venture, Cardiff & Vale, Wales), 111 Fitness and Wellbeing Gyms across the UK, and five medical centres"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuffield_Health


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupa

"Bupa /bjuːpə/ is an international healthcare group, with its origins and headquarters in the United Kingdom but now serving 32 million customers in 190 countries. It is a private healthcare not for-profit company limited by guarantee,[1] unlike the UK's National Health Service (NHS), which is a tax-funded healthcare system. "