Private Health Insurance

We kept our insurance going for the first couple of years after my husband retired, but oh my goodness the premiums were so incredibly expensive we decided to stop it, and now self-fund if we need to. Much better to save your money rather than lose it down the insurance company's drain so to speak

I'd check the cost of continuing on the existing policy and also research sorting out your own. We discontinued when DH retired early due to cost. We used it quite a bit over the years.
Setting cash aside is a good idea if you have the discipline.

We had a low cost health insurance when we first retired but in the first 10 years paid them over £20,000 and our claims were less than £6,000 for 2 cataract ops. Then they doubled our premiums when we reached 70.

So we shut it down and did what so many other people have recommended, opened a savings account, put the lower sum we had been saving into it, which we haven't increased, and, after 5 years, we already have sufficient funds to cover every operation on the price list of our local private hospital and we will let it keep growing. The money is all ours to do what we like with.

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I'm with those who say to put the £200 a month into a high interest account and use it to pay if needed. We have jumped the NHS queue for an initial consultant appointment and then been treated on the NHS in the private hospital.
Private healthcare cannot cope in an emergency.
PAYG gives you choice and the best of both worlds.

Another option is a policy that pays you back once you submit your receipts. You can claim for optician and dental fees so you would usually claim back more than you pay in premiums.

Just realised this is a very old thread that has been revived!!!

First of all, I would like to say that the advantage of health insurance is the relatively low fixed costs. I like that this field is constantly developing and that you don't have to go anywhere to get a health insurance policy - everything is available online. Usually, the sum insured is sufficient for mild to moderate illnesses, lab tests, and medication coverage. I've heard a lot of good things about top Medicare insurance carriers. Next month I plan to change my health insurance to a more expensive all-inclusive plan.

Why would anyone take out a Private Health Insurance, when we have a Health Service, which is the envy of the world . Yes, you may have to wait for routine problems like Arthritis etc, but you will be seen within 14 days, if you have ‘suspicious’ symptoms..