Summary
The National Health Service is there for everyone. Not everyone is happy about the waiting times to see a health professional, though. There are ways to ease the situation, without necessarily breaking the bank.
Health Insurance - Don't Break The Bank
Everyone needs a doctor once in a while, no matter how good their general health. In a perfect world a quick phone call would get you an appointment with the health professional of your choice, but unfortunately this is increasingly often not the case. This is a poor state of affairs when you consider the extra billions of pounds worth of funds which have been pumped into the National Health Service in recent years.
The current promise from The Government seems to be that referrals via the GP for further consultation and investigation should be dealt with in a less than 18 week period is simply not acceptable for many people. No wonder the demand for private medical insurance (PMI) is increasing - 18 weeks is a very long time to be waiting for re-assurance or medical treatment before even taking the first step, beyond the GP.
Apart from the waiting times, there are concerns about cleanliness in hospitals following many reports of MRSA and various other bugs. There is the fear that you may go into hospital for a fairly simple and routine procedure and land up with something far worse.
The answer to the problem, for those that can afford it, is a fully comprehensive private health care package. However, the price of this has risen greatly in recent years and PMI premiums - never low - are now soaring.
Insurers are anxious that their customers are not forced into relying on the NHS alone, and have come up with some clever alternatives to full private care at a more modest cost. There are now increasing numbers of cash plan policies and ones which use part payment by the patient to keep the actual insurance costs down. It's also possible to exclude certain conditions from the cover or pay an increased excess. Caution is needed here - you need to read the small print very carefully and check just what is or isn't included. For instance, some of the more serious cancers may be excluded from the list of conditions which are covered.
Most insurers jib at covering pre-existing medical conditions and all will ask for a detailed medical history. Fill in all paper-work with absolute accuracy - forgetting to mention something that may later crop up in your records can negate any claim, so pay particular attention to this.
Medical insurance in particular is a tricky thing to tackle on your own. It's simple to find an on-line broker who'll take into account things like pre-existing conditions and consider general health, age and fitness before recommending a particular route to follow. For example, some insurers may cover you, in spite of a previous medical condition if there has been no recurrence over the past two years. Others won't hear of it, but your broker will search a wide market and come up with some choices for you and your pocket.
(If you want to read more we suggest you look at the article entitled "Avoid NHS Delays And Reduce Stress And Worry".)
|