Everything You Need To Know About Health Insurance

Wait times for the NHS have always been quite high, but that’s only increased due to the pandemic. Some patients are waiting longer and longer for treatment. Research shows that since the start of the pandemic, the number of people waiting for NHS treatment in the UK has grown by a fifth. This means that 5.3 million people were waiting for treatment in May 2021, compared to 4.4 million in February 2020. And there has been a sharp increase in people waiting for longer than a year. Given this increase it’s no surprise that health insurance keeps popping up.

People are turning to private healthcare if they don’t feel like they’re well enough to wait for treatment on the NHS. A survey by Engage Britain found that 20% of people with health insurance got it because they couldn’t get the treatment they urgently needed.

But health insurance isn’t cheap. The average premium for private health insurance costs about £1,425 according to Engage Britain. Although some employers do offer it as a standard or premium perk so if you’re looking for private healthcare check out your employer. Healthcare through your workplace could be in the form of a cash payment where you’d get a fixed sum towards private healthcare. Or standard medical insurance, so it’s worth looking into.

Do you need private health insurance?

This is a hard question to answer as it depends on whether you can afford it and whether you feel you need answers or treatment quicker than the NHS can provide. The upside to health insurance (sometimes known as private medical insurance) is that you’ll get treatment immediately and don’t have to join an NHS waiting list. So if you’re in a lot of pain or discomfort then it could end up being very beneficial.

Health insurance may also allow you access to certain treatments or medication that isn’t currently available on the NHS. And you’ll get the comfort of private hospital care.

You can of course pay to go private without having health insurance, but this will work out a lot more expensive.

How much does health insurance cost?

The cost of your insurance will depend on a lot of factors depending on your age, health history policy type, and any premiums. You can choose between a full medical plan which covers both diagnosis and all treatment, or a treatment only plan. So if you’re looking to save money and are happy for the NHS to diagnosis the issue, then treatment only may be a great option.

Just like car insurance the price of your insurance also depends on any voluntary excess. If you choose a higher amount then your insurance will be cheaper as you’d be footing part of the bill.

It’s worth noting that most policies won’t cover you for pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses such as epilepsy, arthritis and diabetes. Or you may just have to pay more for your policy as they’d deem you much more likely to claim.

Whatever the cost of insurance think about how much private treatment would be. A consultation can be around £200, and an MRI can cost up to £1,500. And that’s without any treatment.

Can you still receive NHS care if you have health insurance?

You are still entitled to free healthcare from the NHS. This is regardless of whether you pay for additional private care. So just because you have medical insurance, or choose to go private you don’t have to go private for everything.

You can only have one healthcare team supervising treatment for a specific condition. So you can’t have both the NHS and a private provider helping with the same medical treatment.

How to find the best policy

Just like any insurance policy look at comparison sites and compare the different policies, providers and prices.

Make sure you look into every single aspect of the policy to know what is and isn’t covered. Look out for fixed-sum excess charges, or add-on’s such as maternity care. And also look out to see if you’re covered for hospital stays or just the treatment itself.

If you and your partner are both looking you may be able to save some money by getting a joint policy as opposed to two individual policies.

Do you have health insurance?

Pin It