Pros
- Specialist referrals. You can ask your GP to refer you to an expert or specialist working privately to get a second opinion or specialist treatment.
- Get the scans you want. If the NHS delays a scan, or won’t let you have one, you can use your cover to pay for it.
- Reduce the waiting time. You can use your insurance to reduce the time you spend waiting for NHS treatment, if your wait time is more than six weeks.
- Choose your surgeon and hospital. You can (in theory) choose a surgeon and hospital to suit your time and place – which isn’t possible on the NHS.
- Get a private room. You can use it to get a private room, rather than staying in an open ward which might be mixed-sex.
- Specialist drugs and treatments might be available. Some specialist drugs and treatments aren’t available on the NHS because they’re too expensive or not approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in England and Wales (NICE) or the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC).
- Physiotherapy. You get quicker access to physiotherapy sessions if you have insurance than you would through NHS treatment.
Cons
- You might get better care on the NHS. If you have a serious illness such as cancer, heart disease or stroke, you’ll get priority NHS treatment. NHS hospitals can be as good as or better than private hospitals.
- It’s expensive – and the price will go up. A typical family premium (two adults in their 40s and two children under 10) can vary from £700 to £1,800 per year. Premiums will rise every year, and with age – so by the time you’re older, and more likely to need hospital treatment, you might not be able to afford it.
- Chronic illnesses aren’t usually covered. Most policies don’t cover chronic illnesses which are incurable, such as diabetes and some cancers.
- There might not be any local treatment options. If you choose a policy with an approved list of consultants and hospitals this might not include the expert consultant you want to see or a convenient location for treatment.
Is private medical insurance good value for money?
- It can be good value if you might need specialist, expensive treatment.
- If you’re a sporting enthusiast, for example, you might want access to specialist private treatment that isn’t available in the NHS – like surgeons and experts who only do private work.
- You’d need to have a policy that covers the type of treatment you might need.
- If you needed to make more than one claim, it’s quite likely that private medical insurance would save you money.
- Even if you get private medical insurance, you’ll keep your right to use the NHS.
- It remains a safety net that will pick up the tab for anything that isn’t covered by your insurance policy.
