Question for UK residents: Have any of you ever "gone private" for health care?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

In online and journalistic discussions of health care in various countries, some participants have told of receiving health care in other countries and finding that even though they weren't covered by the host country's health service, the out-of-pocket costs were much lower than they would have been in the U.S. I've heard such stories from American tourists in France, Thailand, Costa Rica, and Sweden.

So if you have gone private for health care, what did the doctor charge for such services as office visits, blood tests, etc.?

I'm asking because I'm wondering if the existence of the NHS inspires private providers to keep costs low or whether the wealthy who patronize the private doctors don't care about costs.

What have your experiences been?

(I'm very interested in this whole issue, because I just learned today that I officially fall into the category of "under-insured," according to U.S. government standards.)

[TheBigotBasher]

1. The NHS changes the market completely from the US.

Even on Private Insurance (the largest provider of which is a non profit group called BUPA) if you are covered there are no Doctors fees. There are no fees to pay in hospitals and co-pays do not really exist.

I have not "gone private" but my brother had and my sister went private for experimental cancer treatment not covered by the NHS.

BUPA insurance is very cheap in comparison to the US and is often provided by employers as part of a package for management level staff. Rooms are like those in decent hotels (including mini bars) compared to communal wards (sometimes mixed) in the NHS.

Private hospitals in the UK do not cover emergency treatment. There is absolutely no need for that to be covered by them.

It is however un-necessary to go private even for elective surgery. The NHS will even (under some circumstances) cover things like boob jobs (it is rare for it to do that and generally that is only for re-constructive work and not enlargement).

There are other packages of insurance available which will insure your income while you are in an NHS hospital.

[fedsron2us]

2. Private health care costs in the UK may be misleading

because all the providers are essentially underpinned by the NHS in the event of emergency. For example if you went into a BUPA hospital for a minor operation and then subsequently suffered a heart attack or stroke you would almost certainly end up being transferred to an NHS Accident and Emergency hospital since the insured sector does not generally provide treatment for such eventualities.

It also needs to be remembered that since its inception the NHS has always offered private treatment itself (some NHS hospitals contain private wards) and NHS doctors are allowed to spend part of their time treating private clients. For non urgent conditions there has always been ways of jumping all or part of the queue by paying some of the costs. This happens quite often for people seeking an initial consultation with a specialist which is often one of the bottlenecks in NHS treatment. You might not even have to be particularly wealthy or well insured to avail yourself of this option since this facility is often part of some of the low cost plans offered by the insurers.

Because the same facilities are often used to treat both public and private patients it is not always possible to tease out comparative costs between the two sectors.

[TheBigotBasher]

4. Pretty much true

if you went into a BUPA hospital for a minor operation and then subsequently suffered a heart attack or stroke you would almost certainly end up being transferred to an NHS Accident and Emergency hospital since the insured sector does not generally provide treatment for such eventualities.

Most BUPA hospitals would have the facilities to treat a heart attack if you had gone in for a minor operation, in fact some heart attacks are referred to them depending upon availability of doctors (cancer treatments may be soon). They are however not set up with general accident and emergency units and the insurance companies do not cover that.

I was shocked to find out that the NHS will treat injuries from car accidents but will not pay for them - those are billed to the car insurance company. If you are hit by an uninsured driver the NHS will chase the driver for the costs.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. That's actually true in the U.S., too

The expectation is that the car insurance company of the driver at fault (in some states) or the insurance company of the owner of the car the injured person was riding in (in so-called "no-fault" states) will pay for injuries suffered in a car accident.

In 1999, while I still lived in Oregon, I went back to Minnesota for a visit and was riding in a car driven by my stepfather when someone ran a red light and hit us broadside. My stepfather and I suffered minor injuries, and my mother was in intensive care for a couple of weeks, but Minnesota is a "no-fault" state, so my stepfather's car insurance company paid all the bills.

However, problems arise when a non-driver is hit by a driver who flouts the law and neglects to get insurance.

[non sociopath skin]

3. No. Never.

The Skin

[T_i_B]

6. Same here

I used to work for a boss who was always banging on at me to join BUPA, but I've never seen the need.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. Thanks for your responses

To hear our right-wingers tell it, everyone in the UK is completely dissatisfied with their health care and flocking to the private sector, not to mention coming here for health care.

[drkkr76]

13. really?

then how come the busiest a&e departments in europe is in the uk and the next busiest is in the uk too!
and have u seen a private a&e?
nhs is a scam, it provides free health care for everyone
but the money comes from tax payers
and most of them are immigrants

[emad]

8. Yes. Frequently. 90% of NHS consultants also work privately

and charge market rates on a par with US practitioners.

I was once quoted a four month wait to see a podiatrist specialising in a chronic foot condition I had. One phone call got me in privately the very next day. The $200 bill was worth every cent as I was able to walk properly and without pain within a few days instead of relying on heavy duty NHS painkillers that merely kept messing up my liver and kidneys.

Another time I needed to get an urgent minor op done before going on vacation. NHS wanted me to join a 9 month queue. I went privately and got to have my holiday. The $$$s was worth it because once again the idea of managing months of pre-op chronic related pain just didn't add up.

And oh, the accommodation side of private medical care is vastly superior to some of the near slum conditions in filthy, disease-ridden NHS wards.

Just try washing your own bath while you're in agony with caesarian stitches and unable to get a cleaner to do it for you because they're too busy cleaning up mess left behind by the seven other recovery ward patients in post-natal.

No brainer,really.

[drkkr76]

11. !

yeah, i would agree
no brainer really!

[dipsydoodle]

9. As far as I'm aware, bearing in mind I'm UK ,

private consultations cost about $100 here in your terms. In our case any presciptions are still covered by the NHS anyway assumimg them to be for approved drugs by approved by the NHS which is most of them. Private presciptions don't cost bundles anyway. I used to need augmentin / amoxicillin clav occasionally for tooth absesses upper jaw and the presciption cost about $20 to be filled at the chemists.

My daughter needed some specific blood tests to done privately and she said the tests were $ 70 for each specific test. These were for vitamin D deficiency etc and were coverd by her private health insurance.

BTW - most in the UK who use private medical insurance do so to get faster rather than better treatment and also to ensure better accomodation for hospital treatment.

[drkkr76]

12. !!

yeah right, private practise hasnt catched up really has it?

[drkkr76]

10. ?

private healthcare is not unaffordable in the uk even without insurance for people making a living other than by dole money alone