Who has private health insurance?

scorza said:
It sounds like your beef is with your employer then for not offering the cash equivalent of the health insurance premium. If they offered you a choice between £50 a month extra in your pay, or a health insurance worth £50 a month (and therefore a taxable benefit) then you'd pay the same amount of tax for both options.
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No, it's not the employer. It's the system. For an employer it is advantageous to give private medical as it is tax deductible for the company. And it is cheaper to get insurance for a class of people at work than an individual. They dont buy each employee a single medical insurance, they buy it all at the start of the year, you opt in or out, and it's fixed for 12 months. If you are an employer would you give your employee £700 if they didn't take the benefit? Which is about the cost per person on private. But when bought as a group, it is much less.
 
Private health insurance is frankly ridiculous.

You are paying twice for your healthcare. Through taxes for the NHS, and then privately to see the SAME PEOPLE who work for the NHS, its insane.

I think there is an element of snobbery attached to Private health insurance, like men who are members of very expensive gyms or golf clubs and hardly ever go, its like a life "accessory".

Sure you get to skip the queue, but ultimately the best results for big procedures still lie with the NHS.
 
~~#M-Bizzle#~~ said:
Private health insurance is frankly ridiculous.

You are paying twice for your healthcare. Through taxes for the NHS, and then privately to see the SAME PEOPLE who work for the NHS, its insane.

I think there is an element of snobbery attached to Private health insurance, like men who are members of very expensive gyms or golf clubs and hardly ever go, its like a life "accessory".

Sure you get to skip the queue, but ultimately the best results for big procedures still lie with the NHS.
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snobbery? you don't have come out with some **** lol
 
Morba said:
snobbery? you don't have come out with some **** lol
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Its true.

Look at how the OP was championing the cause of private health insurance, calling the NHS a "fallback" option, like it wasnt good enough for him, and somehow private care was a cut above.

However the last laugh is with people who dont waste money on the private insurance, as the list of exclusions previously mentioned, on the BEST plan, essentially leaves barely anything covered.

Great if you want to get a mole removed, totally useless if you need to be in intensive care after a car crash, as your fancy private health care doesnt even cover this.


xarr said:
Ageing, menopause and puberty
AIDS / HIV‡
Allergies or allergic disorders
Birth control, conception, sexual problems and sex changes‡
Chronic conditions‡
Complications from excluded or restricted conditions / treatment
Contamination, wars and riots
Convalescence, rehabilitation and general nursing care‡
Cosmetic, reconstructive or weight loss treatment‡
Deafness
Dental / oral treatment (such as fillings, gum disease, jaw shrinkage etc)‡
Dialysis‡
Drugs and dressings for out-patient or take-home use‡
Experimental drugs and treatment‡
Treatment to correct eyesight (eg long or short sight)‡
HRT and bone densitometry‡
Intensive care
Learning difficulties, behavioural and developmental problems
Overseas treatment and repatriation
Physical aids and devices‡
Pre-existing or special conditions
Pregnancy and childbirth‡
Screening, monitoring and preventive treatment
Sleep problems and disorders
Speech disorders‡
Telephone consultations
Temporary relief of symptoms‡
Unrecognised providers or facilities
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I would say £50 a month for next to zero proper cover is lunacy. At face value, it seems a complete waste of money since you are already paying for the NHS in the first place.

Rushed to hospital as you are allergic to something? Sorry not covered.
Want to have a child on private healthcare? Sorry not covered.
Suddenly discover you have eye problems? Tough, back to the NHS for you!
 
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You have to understand why he has 'Dr' in his username, then apply it to his post ;)

Also, that is 1 poster in the whole thread, the rest are all 'yes through work as benefit'. Thats clearly snobbery lol.
 
Raymond Lin said:
No, it's not the employer. It's the system. For an employer it is advantageous to give private medical as it is tax deductible for the company. And it is cheaper to get insurance for a class of people at work than an individual. They dont buy each employee a single medical insurance, they buy it all at the start of the year, you opt in or out, and it's fixed for 12 months. If you are an employer would you give your employee £700 if they didn't take the benefit? Which is about the cost per person on private. But when bought as a group, it is much less.
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Yep agree 100%, that the insurance premiums are cheaper when bought as a group than bought individually should tell you something about the nature of insurance. Oh the employers are part of the system too. At our place there are various insurance schemes we can opt into, health insurance is unique in that if you don't opt into it, there's no cash equivalent.
 
Morba said:
You have to understand why he has 'Dr' in his username, then apply it to his post ;)

Also, that is 1 poster in the whole thread, the rest are all 'yes through work as benefit'. Thats clearly snobbery lol.
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It could well be too, if you had read their posts you would have seen that they were offered the cash instead of the private healthcare.
 
Dr House said:
Unless you have a mortgage or dependents to worry about when you are gone which I assume you do not at 21 the above cover is really pointless. The conditions covered by critical illness cover are very limited (unless you are paying big money for your cover) and you are very unluckily to suffer from the conditions that are covered at your ages and if you die what is the point of having a large lump sum unless you have depended you want to take care of. I would rather spend the money on paying health insurance premiums then life insurance to help reduce the chance of me needing to claim on the life insurance:D
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I am in the process of buying a property so my life/critical illness cover is to cover me for the amount of my mortgage should I unfortunately die before or after completion so that my brother and mother aren't left needing to find X amount or take out a mortgage for it themselves (assuming they struggled to sell it). It's also to help with any other fees incurred dealing with my estate.

It's more a parting gift from me to them in the event I should be hit by a bus. Due to my age at £10 a month it's not exactly expensive £40 cheaper than private health care.
 
~~#M-Bizzle#~~ said:
I would say £50 a month for next to zero proper cover is lunacy. At face value, it seems a complete waste of money since you are already paying for the NHS in the first place.

Rushed to hospital as you are allergic to something? Sorry not covered.
Want to have a child on private healthcare? Sorry not covered.
Suddenly discover you have eye problems? Tough, back to the NHS for you!
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Rubbish, loads of people I know have had consultations and operations through BUPA that would have taken 3times or longer to take place on the NHS, personally I think it offers fantastic cover from someone without any pre existing conditions, but hey what do I know, i only know 10+ people who have been treated via BUPA without issue or delay and the time period these same ops would have taken on the NHS.

At the end of the day (regardless of what you say), businesses take out BUPA cover to reduce the time staff members will be off sick, yes some sad people will see it as a 'flashy' thing to have and if that's the way they want to see it so be it.
 
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Firestar_3x said:
Rubbish, loads of people I know have had consultations and operations through BUPA that would have taken 3times or longer to take place on the NHS, personally I think it offers fantastic cover from someone without any pre existing conditions, but hey what do I know, i only know 10+ people who have been treated via BUPA without issue or delay and the time period these same ops would have taken on the NHS.
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This. Most of the stories I've heard of people using BUPA over the NHS sounds like it has been very worthwhile, from much lower waiting times to post op care to free physio.
 
If you're not in a rush, or you are close to death, the NHS is fine.

If it's something such as a hip op, or some other "quality of life" procedure, then you are at the mercy of the NHS waiting list.

Bupa is there to improve your quality of life, not necessarily preserve it. For life preservation you'll ALWAYS have to use the NHS (unless Bupa have given out an alternative number to 999 that they haven't told me about).
 
Bupa are fantastic, i dont actually know anyone with a bad word to say about them.
 
~~#M-Bizzle#~~ said:
Private health insurance is frankly ridiculous.

You are paying twice for your healthcare. Through taxes for the NHS, and then privately to see the SAME PEOPLE who work for the NHS, its insane.

I think there is an element of snobbery attached to Private health insurance, like men who are members of very expensive gyms or golf clubs and hardly ever go, its like a life "accessory".

Sure you get to skip the queue, but ultimately the best results for big procedures still lie with the NHS.
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Wow.
 
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