Drawbacks of Private Health Insurance
Although private health insurance can offer policyholders certain benefits, see Advantages, such as shorter waiting times and private hospital rooms, it does have certain disadvantages.
Private health insurance costs you money each month: the exact cost of the premium will depend on individual factors such as your lifestyle, diet, medical history and the level of cover you wish to purchase. If you wish to purchase comprehensive cover this will be particularly expensive; some policies are available for around sixty pounds a month, whilst others will cost significantly more. The cost of your health insurance will also increase if you are a smoker, are overweight, have a poor medical history or want cover for extras such as psychiatric treatment or dental treatment.
Unfortunately, health insurance is most expensive for those people who need it most, that is, those people who are most at risk of becoming ill. The older you are, the more expensive your premiums will be, because the risk of your needing treatment increases with age. Some insurance providers offer to always calculate your premiums based on the age you are when you join their scheme, but health insurance remains costly for many.
One disadvantage of private health insurance is that it always excludes certain conditions and circumstances from your cover. You will still have to rely on the NHS for some aspects of healthcare treatment; GP visits, NHS prescriptions and accident and emergency care are typical exclusions for most policies, see Exclusions. This means that you will also have to cover the cost of any NHS charges, such as prescription fees, in addition to the monthly premium you pay for private cover.
Health insurance will not cover you for pre-existing or incurable conditions; often these conditions are those that result in the most tests and treatments. If you are pregnant your policy will often not cover care, and most policies will not cover you if you require fertility treatment. Dental care, cosmetic surgery and any 'self-inflicted' conditions, for example resulting from alcohol or drug abuse, will also be excluded by the majority of private insurers.
Some policyholders run into difficulties when they try to claim on their insurance. If you have not been a policyholder for a certain period of time, insurers will often refuse cover. Some providers refuse to consider claims if the claimant has been a member for less than six months; other insurers will impose a minimum membership limit on certain conditions. For example, you may be entitled to claim for specialist fees and in patient care immediately, but have to have been a member for two years to claim for psychiatric care. When you do make a claim, it can be difficult to get your money back; some patients have no problems with their insurer, whilst others are left waiting for months to be reimbursed.
It can be difficult to determine whether or not you are really receiving a superior standard of care when you are a private patient. You will often be receiving much the same medical treatment that you would have received free of charge with the NHS, and it is difficult to know for certain how much worse the accommodation, food and care that you would have received would have been. However, one advantage of private insurance which is cited many times is the speed of treatment. If you ask a doctor how long you would have to wait for a procedure on the NHS and find that your insurance entitles you to much prompter care, this should indicate that purchasing private insurance was a wise decision.
