What sort of Private Medical Insurance could you get for NHS contributions?
If the average wage is 20k, 20% tax, £1 in every £8 goes to the NHS (rough estimates i know).
So the average amount of tax paid to the NHS is about £500 a year, what sort of private insurance can you get for that ?
I am aware you cant opt out, i was just wondering
Kit – I mean insuarnce premuims, not actual appiontments
September 1st, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Not very much, certainly not the level of care provided by the NHS. That said I would have opted out when I was younger if it had been possible.
The way you are treated as a person in the private sector is far superior to the NHS where we are herded like cattle.
September 1st, 2010 at 4:16 pm
For £500 a year you won’t get even a consultation with a doctor if you go private.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:02 pm
I wouldn’t think you’d get very good medical insurance with that. Probably the sort with a massive excess and very poor coverage.
I actually looked into the cost of private health care and BUPA coverage for myself and my family would be about £100 a month (£1200 a year) and thats for a fairly basic policy which doesn’t cover a lot of things and requires a fairly hefty excess. It also excludes pre-existing conditions (such as my endometriosis and my other half’s sciatica). The NHS is by no means luxurious but at least we can get the care we need when we need it – theres no way we could afford to pay £100 a month, plus excesses, drug costs etc. We just don’t earn enough and as a family with a young child to care for, having access to health care is a major concern.
I have to say that I am a strong supporter of the NHS. The alternative would be the system we had in place prior to that when my great aunt watched two of her children die from intense fever and convulsions, simply because she was too poor to pay doctors’ fees.
I do think the Government wastes a lot of money on things which people should try to provide for themselves, but healthcare is pretty much a basic human need and shouldn’t be tampered with.
I do however, object to health tourists taking advantage of the NHS and feel that it does need better management.
September 1st, 2010 at 5:54 pm
It depends where you live but an ok cover, better than the NHS.
Also if an individual has to pay for health cover they tend to look after themselves better.
The NHS was an excellent idea in the world Bevan lived in, now with the transient work force (& health tourisim) of the 21st century it is quite unworkable alas.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:39 pm
You wouldn’t get the best policy, I don’t think it would be better than the NHS.
The NHS may seem like a bad thing when you still have the option to use it, but if this country only had private medical health care it would be a terrible situation.
I work in insurance and insurers do not want to pay out. Accidently take the wrong cover, or worse don’t have cover at all, and it could cost you your kid’s life. Private medical care is only good when you are covered, hit an exclusions and it’s not good news.
Best to have the NHS to fall back on…at least there are no general exclusions or excesses, no matter how bad they can be sometimes