Private Healthcare - who has it? should I/do I have to take it?

Freefaller said:
The tax "penalty" for the benefit of private healthcare is worth it IMO. When I had private medical insurance, I'd get 20 physio therapy sessions a year as part of it, free full health check ups ,and we were able to take one of our kids to a specialist within 3hrs of the phone call (nothing serious), and when I busted my shoulder again (rugby) I got microsurgery within a week and was properly fixed with a full rehab programme.

Worth every penny. I went to the physio twice a month and I'd never been in better physical shape as a result.
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Same here, i had a no excess policy at my last place and so would go to the physio for every little niggle. I think they started to tighten things up towards the end though as i would only be granted 6 sessions per treatment and the physio had to complete a lot of lengthy forms for extensions.

Mine was also with Vitality which offset the tax cost with all the cashback i'd earn from Waitrose shopping, spa breaks etc.
 
I think ours works out about £800 a year, although i've opted out of it since i started with my employer. I may look to add it back once i get to late 30's/early 40's.

Not saying that i'm invincible until that age, but i've not needed it in the last 10 years, so would have been £6k wasted really.
 
Looks like it is provided by AXA Health and from reading through whats covered and for in-patient everything is paid in full as long as you use their specified hospitals and no yearly limit for specialist fees.

For outpatient its largely the same for surgery, CT, MRI, PET, other outpatient treatments like physio, acupuncture, chiro etc if you have a GP referral. And same for specialist consultations and AXA Doctor at Hand and then £1000 per year for routine follow up.

Seems alright however it would be handy to know what implication this will have on my tax/how it is going to "cost" me before I commit to it.
 
I eventually opted out of this at my previous employer, because I never used it and the tax costs. Mentally it's just something I subconsciously can't get my head round, never had private healthcare, schooling etc growing up, so it never really crosses my mind to go anywhere other than the NHS for healthcare. I'm aware you would get a better service going private though so it's more a mental block than a logically assessed proposition. Smart people whom I respected said it was a very good deal for what you got. Someone who worked for me got massive benefit from the mental health cover for her husband.

Maybe the issue is even when / if I had it I never actually called on it, I'd feel a bit guilty getting these little treatments and stuff.

The one thing it might help with is really I ought to have my second cataract removed, I had one done in 1998 but have never really got round to having the other one done, and I'm actually getting older now to the extend the NHS probably doesn't consider me as much of a priority as when I was a child / young adult.

The other thing I didn't realise for ages was that the death in service / life insurance cover was actually another taxable benefit. At a prior employer I never paid any tax towards death in service. Seemed a bit cheeky as it was never really explained that this thing that sounded good (for my spouse) on paper of 4x salary payout was actually costing me a fair few quid and I only found out when getting a letter from HMRC saying I'd paid too little tax.
 
HangTime said:
The other thing I didn't realise for ages was that the death in service / life insurance cover was actually another taxable benefit. At a prior employer I never paid any tax towards death in service. Seemed a bit cheeky as it was never really explained that this thing that sounded good (for my spouse) on paper of 4x salary payout was actually costing me a fair few quid and I only found out when getting a letter from HMRC saying I'd paid too little tax.
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That must be something that can vary employer to employer then (not sure how though) as mine explicitly mentions that my 4x life assurance and income protection are both not classed as a benefit in kind by HMRC.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
That must be something that can vary employer to employer then (not sure how though) as mine explicitly mentions that my 4x life assurance and income protection are both not classed as a benefit in kind by HMRC.
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Just looked it up again, the issue was they had both BUPA private medical insurance but also "Critical illness" cover. I was like WTF is this private medical insurance BIK charge given I'd opted out of private medical, I hadn't realised that Critical Illness cover was yet another thing you had to opt out of (i.e. there were multiple medical/illness covers you had to independently opt out of via different methods - BUPA was in Workday, but not critical illness). Also really cheeky as the document from payroll doesn't actually say what the amount you will be charged is, just what the amount of cover is.
 
Our policy has increased over the years to a taxable benefit of about £2.5k with Aviva. I'm still keeping it but I wish the company would look for a better deal.
 
Another here who has it for me and the family (I pay for the family addition) - c£125 for 4 of us. We have a pretty decent cover level - I pay a one off excess on consultation (excludes physio which is free). We have used it a fair amount - wife has had at least 1 knee op, son has had some expedited work instead of NHS waits, my numerous physio visits :)

Some will argue not worth it, but for me I'd rather not have the NHS waits so I see the value.
 
I get mine through Axa at work. I think it comes out to about £25 pre-tax off my wages and the company tops the rest up.

Axa give back nearly £200 for optical care for me and the other half and with her needing contacts, I get most of the "investment" back each year as a cheque.

This year, I've had physio and she's had mental health therapy that would have cost us thousands.

Tbh the best thing about private healthcare is just the ease of getting a doctors appointment.
 
I work for a private healthcare company so funnily enough have private healthcare. However I'd always opt to have it if it was optional. It gives me peace of mind and I've used it a couple of times in the past to get MRIs done as well as other referrals that would otherwise take weeks.
 
I am new to PMI and considering taking it via work too.

From a few above posters, the cash value examples are £800pa, £1721pa and £14pm. How come the cost varies so much?

Is the "cash value" effectively the amount of take home pay I would be "losing"?

If there are any guides online, with example calculations, please share.
 
I have had it with various jobs. It has been invaluable for both myself and my family. I think the NHS is superb for some stuff. But having additional private cover really does help for some things.

E.g. 2011 I found a suspicious lump. By the end of the week it had been investigated, cancer confirmed, and then removed the following week. That's much faster than the NHS and could very well have made a difference to the amount of treatment needed.
 
DB_SamX said:
I am new to PMI and considering taking it via work too.

From a few above posters, the cash value examples are £800pa, £1721pa and £14pm. How come the cost varies so much?
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Just from my own knowledge, I assume it will come down to:

- How much their employer puts in (full or subsidised), for example - Mine is paid for by work (excluding tax) and I pay the addition for family cover
- Provider (BUPA, Aviva, a another here)
- Cover type - I have what is Silver cover in my place provided by Aviva. Some will have more e.g. worldwide assistance. Some will have lower e.g. higher excess, lower limits like any insurance

In terms of a calculator, I believe it just comes under normal BIK - so the tax based on the amount your employer pays, similar to a company car.
 
Yeah, i think mine was close to £2k, but it covered my family. Sadly i no longer have it.

On the plus side, i've just realised i can go privately for an Ultrasound i need vs the 22week wait on the NHS and recover the costs through my Health Cash plan :D
 
Private health is worth having and I have had it for 30 years plus now. Having said this, if you get a long term issue, such as the one I have, it is far less useful. If it's complex requiring multiple specialisations to collaborate on a long term program it can be pretty much useless. For that you are still in most cases better with the NHS.

Need something fixing quick or something highly specialised and one off, private has significant benefits.
 
I have received a quote and the cost to the company for you to join is £529.27 per annum. This would result in a tax cost to you of either £529.27 x 20% or 40%, depending on whether you pay higher rate tax or not.
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This is what my quote has come back as. I am currently just in the lower tax band, so an annual £106 "cost" to me sounds like a bargain. I should have joined it sooner, as I got diagnosed with a slipped disc needing treatment around a month ago, so it'll most likely be excluded.
 
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