Can You Afford Not To Have Medical Insurance?

Private Medical Insurance is not there to take over the NHS, it complements it.

The NHS has an envious reputation for its Accident & Emergency services, its approach to treating illnesses like cancer, and the perceived 'free' access to medical care for anyone in the UK. However, can you afford to rely on a healthcare system that is overloaded by demand?

Could you wait to receive your healthcare, provided you can get a bed in the first instance? What is the quality of the medical treatment and the environment at your local hospital?

According to a BBC report in March, 2008, the average waiting time for treatment on the NHS had risen from 41 days in 1997-1998 to 49 days in 2007.(1) Some average waiting times for specific surgeries in 2004 included:

Cataract surgery - 8 months' wait on average
Hip replacement surgery - 11 months wait on average
Knee replacement surgery - 12 months wait on average
Surgery on a slipped disc in your back - 5 months wait on average
Surgery to repair a hernia - 5 months wait on average

While none of these conditions could be considered life-threatening, they all involve some amount of discomfort on part of the sufferer. Cataracts cause vision problems and will keep you from driving. Problems with your hips and your knees could prevent you from performing everyday tasks as walking would become painful. Back problems might make it difficult to stand or even sit comfortably and a hernia might prevent you from being able to lift and carry things.

All of these conditions would affect your quality of life and could potentially cause you pain and discomfort for months while you waited for treatment on the NHS.

Private medical insurance puts you in control of your health

If you're self-employed, buying health insurance is absolutely essential. A minor condition could prevent you from working for months if you have to wait for the NHS to provide treatment. Having private medical insurance on the other hand could mean that treatment is immediate. Private healthcare could get you well and back to work before you would have even had an initial consultation through the NHS.

If you have a busy life, then you need to plan the timing of your treatment. The NHS will provide treatment when it can; but with Private medical insurance, you can plan your treatment to suit your schedule, avoiding holidays, business trips, sporting events and so on. Private medical insurance will put you in control.

When you have private health insurance, if you do need treatment, you will enjoy five star comforts. Private health care usually gets you a single en suite bedroom and your own choice of high quality meals all in an environment free of infection. Most people find sleeping in a busy ward while recovering from an operation extremely difficult. In contrast, private health care will provide the peace and quiet to help you sleep.

Having private medical insurance will mean that the consultant that is responsible for your care will treat you personally rather than sending junior doctors to oversee your treatment. Good as the less qualified doctors are, you will be buying medical insurance to ensure that you are treated by the expert.

Now, can you still afford not to consider private medical insurance? Get an online quote now .

Next section:
I already have Medical Insurance

Disturbing Statistics

2.5 million people suffer from acute chronic back pain every day of the year.
Source: National statistics online

4 out of 5 adults will experience back pain at some time in their lives.
Source: National statistics online

The cost of back pain to the NHS, business and the economy is an estimated £5 billion per year.
Source: National statistics online

1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime.
Source: National statistics online

Cancer is the cause of a quarter of all deaths in the UK.
Source: National statistics online

A staggering 2.7 million people are estimated to be living with coronary heart disease.
Source: British Heart Foundation

Almost 1 in 8 people have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease.
Source: British Heart Foundation

More than 1 in 5 men die from coronary heart disease.
Source: British Heart Foundation

More than 1 in 6 women die from coronary heart disease.
Source: British Heart Foundation

1 person every 2 minutes suffers a heart attack in the UK.
Source: British Heart Foundation

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK.
Source: The Stroke Association

More than 1 in 3 people in the UK die from disease of the heart and circulatory system.
Source: British Heart Foundation

There were 2,401,147 people waiting for their initial consultation appointment in England during July - Sept 2003.
Source: The Department of Health Hospital Waiting Times - quarter 3 2003.

There were 973,126 people waiting to have in-patient or day-patient treatment in England during July - Sept 2003.
Source: The Department of Health Hospital Waiting Times - quarter 3 2003.

There were 151,645 people were waiting six months or more to be treated in England during July - Sept 2003.
Source: The Department of Health Hospital Waiting Times - quarter 3 2003.

The full impact of absence costs UK private sector employers about £1,550 per employee per year - or around 9% of their annual payroll.
Source: Robertson Cooper Limited, 2001 - Survey conducted with 87 major UK employers.

In the UK as many as one in five workers are suffering high levels of work-related stress.
Source: Health & Safety Executive Website - Nov 2000.

The majority of companies are spending between 2% and 16% of their annual budget on sickness absence alone. Private Medical Insurance will probably only cost around 1% of payroll and could save the employer thousand of pounds of down time.
Source: Costing Sickness Absence in the UK, The Institute of Employment Studies 2001.

34% of employers still don't have any kind of strategy in place for reducing sickness absence costs.
Source: Employee Benefits Survey, 2002.

Some of the highest sickness costs are in the building and retail industries where 40% see such absence costing them between 3-5% in payroll costs.
Source: Employee Benefits 2003.

The number of employees who value Private medical insurance has risen from 47% to 59% over the past year.
Source: Chase de Vere 2003.

Private medical insurance has been cited as one of the key employee benefits in helping to strengthen employee / employer relationship.
Source: Cover Magazine 2003.

Over 2 million people aged 20-64 have been unable to work and claiming State Incapacity Benefit for more than 6 months, and may never work again.
Sources: IAD Information centre (DWP) 5% sample 31 May 2003.

People are 20 times more likely to be incapacitated and off work for more than 6 months, than to die before the age of 65.
Sources: IAD Information centre (DWP) 5% sample 31 May 2003. ONS Annual Abstract of Statistics 2002 - 98,992 people aged 20-64 died in the UK on 2000.

2,463,000 people of working age were off work due to health reasons. 2,273,000 of these were suffering from long-term sickness or disability.
Source: 2001/2 Labour Workforce Survey.

94% of employers say that absence is a 'significant' or 'very significant' cost to their business.
Source: CIPD - Employee Absence, a survey of management policy and practice June 2001.

Long term absence in the workplace accounts for 40% of the total working time that is lost to absence each year.
Source: CBI 2001.

80% of companies would relocate an incapacitated employee's work to other staff as part of their normal duties.
Source: Employee Research conducted on behalf of Norwich Union Healthcare, 2001.

Now, Can you really afford not to consider Private Medical Insurance?

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