Is Private Health Insurance worth it for a farmer?

[Hilly]

i could have been paying it for the last 35 years and not had one single claiM , and on top of that i still have to pay into nhs , i will just play it by ear i might get unwell and the nhs is good enough if not i will pay …. See no reason for a farmer to pay insurance unless they think they going to need lots of claims.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

VERY worth it - what’s more important than your health ?

been with vitality a few years but like all insurance it’s worth shopping around and not being a loyal mug !

How does it work if you want treatment
I phone spire on Thursday, they say come see me Saturday, the private Secretary texts me on Monday with a choice of dates for my operation
Is it that simple with insurance, and can you choose where you want to go for treatment ?
First thing they ask , are you a pay customer, does that get me preferential treatment I wonder

 

[Clive]

How does it work if you want treatment
I phone spire on Thursday, they say come see me Saturday, the private Secretary texts me on Monday with a choice of dates for my operation
Is it that simple with insurance, and can you choose where you want to go for treatment ?

yes - call, or get gp referral - get seen petty much straight away, you can pick which consultant/ surgeon you use if needed and book time / location to suit you

also get stuff like private gp online or in person so no waiting for that

gimmicks i know but vitality give you perks like free apple watch / cinema tickets and other stuff etc if you link activity to an app and do enough - basically they reward healthy lifestyle and also reflect than in premiums

happy to say i’ve not needed to claim yet, i’ve used the private gp though and that was good. Other family members have had claims and always been happy with how it works / glad to have it

 

[Derrick Hughes]

yes - call, or get gp referral - get seen petty much straight away, you can pick which consultant/ surgeon you use if needed and book time / location to suit you

also get stuff like private gp online or in person so no waiting for that

gimmicks i know but vitality give you perks like free apple watch / cinema tickets and other stuff etc if you link activity to an app and do enough - basically they reward healthy lifestyle and also reflect than in premiums

happy to say i’ve not needed to claim yet, i’ve used the private gp though and that was good. Other family members have had claims and always been happy with how it works / glad to have it

yes - call, or get gp referral - get seen petty much straight away, you can pick which consultant/ surgeon you use if needed and book time / location to suit you

also get stuff like private gp online or in person so no waiting for that

gimmicks i know but vitality give you perks like free apple watch / cinema tickets and other stuff etc if you link activity to an app and do enough - basically they reward healthy lifestyle and also reflect than in premiums

happy to say i’ve not needed to claim yet, i’ve used the private gp though and that was good. Other family members have had claims and always been happy with how it works / glad to have it

Just wanted to show the other side that Private Health is available and not that expensive without insurance

 

[Clive]

Just wanted to show the other side that Private Health is available and not that expensive without insurance

yes - if you have the reserves you can pay directly, self insurance is fine but i wouldn’t want to be dependent on the Nhs, i believe you can wait a month for a gp appointment in some areas ?

cost depends on the operation though - a friend recently had a 14hr brain surgery op followed by many months of follow up treatment i dread to think what that would cost

 

[puppet]

6 figures somewhere.

 

[ollie989898]

Why not just pay as you go ?

Because you have precisely no idea what size bill you could be landed with next week, next month or next year. How much should I be putting in a bank account each month- £50? £200? £500?

Easier to just pay the money (which is a near ridiculous amount of money for most families of 2 + 2).

 

[Hilly]

Because you have precisely no idea what size bill you could be landed with next week, next month or next year. How much should I be putting in a bank account each month- £50? £200? £500?

Easier to just pay the money (which is a near ridiculous amount of money for most families of 2 + 2).

I happy to pay if i need it i will self insure thanks .

 

[ollie989898]

How does it work if you want treatment
I phone spire on Thursday, they say come see me Saturday, the private Secretary texts me on Monday with a choice of dates for my operation
Is it that simple with insurance, and can you choose where you want to go for treatment ?
First thing they ask , are you a pay customer, does that get me preferential treatment I wonder

This is the issue.

Any one of us on this forum could get a scan this evening probably- if we were prepared to pay what private services wanted for to complete it. The NHS does not pay this sort of money and has no intention of doing so, either.

In effect, you already have a two-tier health service and nothing will change until the entire system is changed. It will cost all of us more money, of that I have no doubt, but the waiting around part will stop. The UK is drastically behind other developed countries when it comes to a lot of things, including simple things like the number of MRI and CT scanners the country contains. This leads to drastic under-investigation and it is likely why our cancer outcomes are poor compared to other countries.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

yes - if you have the reserves you can pay directly, self insurance is fine but i wouldn’t want to be dependent on the Nhs, i believe you can wait a month for a gp appointment in some areas ?

cost depends on the operation though - a friend recently had a 14hr brain surgery op followed by many months of follow up treatment i dread to think what that would cost

My appointment to see a consultant in the NHS was 11 months for a hernia and 17 months for a Prostate check , would be nearly 3 years by the time I get operated on , I got into Spire in 4 days

 

[Clive]

My appointment to see a consultant in the NHS was 11 months for a hernia and 17 months for a Prostate check , would be nearly 3 years by the time I get operated on , I got into Spire in 4 days

money talks ! via insurance or your own bank it’s going to buy a lot of time over nhs

time is often difference between life and death re health

 

[ollie989898]

Just wanted to show the other side that Private Health is available and not that expensive without insurance

A lot of private healthcare is not daft expensive for what you are getting in reality. Private GP or dermatology consultations, X-ray/CT followed up immediately by radiologist or orthopaedic consultant not even 60 minutes after the scan was done etc. This is how I wished the health service actually ran. Instead, folk get sent for a scan, wait weeks for that, then wait weeks for someone to tell them what the scan showed, all the while terrifying themselves throughout.

And then there is the constant dodging within guidelines and not referring people along because it's no longer funded or similar. The trouble with that is, if someone has something you won't fund treatment of, it may well persist and affect them in such a way to the point it becomes a much more serious health issue and affecting their quality of life. If you don't believe me, go to your GP and try getting them to refer you to take your tonsils out- you'd have more luck getting the US government to move the Hoover dam to the left by 10mm.

 

[ollie989898]

My appointment to see a consultant in the NHS was 11 months for a hernia and 17 months for a Prostate check , would be nearly 3 years by the time I get operated on , I got into Spire in 4 days

FFS. I can't read too much of this sort of thing as it just destroys my personal resolve. 11 months for a fudging hernia.

This back log of surgical cases stems from a shortage of trained speciality doctors. There is no shortage of doctors; it is a shortage of doctors trained or training within a specialty that is the issue. And the powers that be won't make more training spaces because they would have to pay the people in them more. And then we wonder why people do a couple of years with the NHS and then decide to pish off abroad.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

FFS. I can't read too much of this sort of thing as it just destroys my personal resolve. 11 months for a fudging hernia.

This back log of surgical cases stems from a shortage of trained speciality doctors. There is no shortage of doctors; it is a shortage of doctors trained or training within a specialty that is the issue. And the powers that be won't make more training spaces because they would have to pay the people in them more. And then we wonder why people do a couple of years with the NHS and then decide to pish off abroad.

Worst thing you can do is leave a Hernia , it just gets harder to repair
To everyone ,please look after yourselves ,don't put money before your health

 

[ollie989898]

Worst thing you can do is leave a Hernia , it just gets harder to repair
To everyone ,please look after yourselves ,don't put money before your health

I've seen people with hernias left and left and left until they are walking around with half a rugby ball of skin, muscle and intestines in their lap. I kid you not.

 

[Netherfield]

Can the premiums be tax deductable ?

No not any more, we used to be with PPP, in the 60s when dad first started with it, yes it was all deductible, in fact you were supposedly taking pressure off the NHS

Successive governments kept nibbling way at it in a budget.

Gave up with it when parents got to their 70s, premiums started going skywards.

Brother in law had a very bad accident, brain surgery and all, whipped him off Leeds and ended up with the top surgeon in the North, all done on NHS, but the aftercare was then done close to home in a private hospital, same surgeon though.

Daughter had her tonsils out in weeks rather than months/years.

I got Salmonella, treated in a private hospital, and you can almost have visitors any time.
And then a Hernia operation.

Mother and sister had an hysterectomy.

Mostly these things done at a time to suit you.

Until covid we had a private GP, only stopped because we couldn't get on the vaccination programme without a NHS GP. Paid him a retainer of £1500 a year for Wife, daughter and myself, and then any tests needed paying for on top of that, but you could always get an appointment quickly.

 

[Tamar]

FFS. I can't read too much of this sort of thing as it just destroys my personal resolve. 11 months for a fudging hernia.

Long waiting queues.......... so the more affluent people jump the queue by paying for it........... making the poor people actually go back one place in the queue !!

 

[SilliamWhale]

FFS. I can't read too much of this sort of thing as it just destroys my personal resolve. 11 months for a fudging hernia.

This back log of surgical cases stems from a shortage of trained speciality doctors. There is no shortage of doctors; it is a shortage of doctors trained or training within a specialty that is the issue. And the powers that be won't make more training spaces because they would have to pay the people in them more. And then we wonder why people do a couple of years with the NHS and then decide to pish off abroad.

But if those same doctors are also doing private work it's not just about a shortage presumably?

Though the percentage of private Vs paid hernias I don't know

 

[suffolksmallholder]

I have bupa, to be honest the level and quality of care is the same as NHS, just shorter waiting times. So good if you need a new knee and don’t want to wait 18 months on the NHS que you can join the 3 week bupa Que. more often than not it’s the same doctor / consultant / surgeon

I’m NHS and the fact that bupa pinch the staff hacks me right off. It means we’re second class and that’s why the waiting lists are so long.
Had a text apology recently stating the hospital was ‘sorry’ to have gone over the 40 week wait for a hip-op.
Luckily this week the call says I’m now booked in for March but that is 80 weeks from my original consultation. Meh!
SS

 

[suffolksmallholder]

You are paying for convenience to get routine treatment sooner. You will be operated on by the consultant you see rather than a supervised middle grade surgeon.
If you are ill stick to the NHS. They have all the backup support.

I can’t fault the NHS if you are properly ill. Being near death not that long ago I was fettled back to good health by dedicated and skilled staff from the consultant right down to the night nurse.
SS