I've got an ongoing possible Carpal Tunnel or trapped nerve problem.
I'm 47 and riding solo marathons. I get the feeling that even when the NHS sort this out for me, it won't be long before something else goes wrong.
I've looked on the BUPA website and they don't give any prices.
I don't like talking to sales people on the phone, so can anyone give me some idea of what their deals are ? I'd probably go for the basic Health Care Select 4 option.

When I first went to my GP with this wrist problem, he made an appointment for me at the hospital. That took about 2 months. I've now got a 3 week wait to get the results of the tests.
Are BUPA significantly faster than this ?
What about the treatment itself ? Is it the same, or is that better as well ?
Anything else I ought to know ?

you`ll have to declare any existing medical issues – this can affect the pricing , thus why no prices on the site !

im a member through work – have no experiance , just know that they do ask for existing medical conditions on the forms

Don't you have to declare that you have consulted your GP recently?

Not sure Bupa will treat you for pre-existing conditions?

Bupa prices are dependant on loads of different factors (so they told me last week when I rang up) therefore prices are different for each person.

One thing is that as you have now been to your docs about wrist it is now on your medical records so Bupa will not cover anything to do with an existing condition.

Treatment you get through Bupa is far better than NHS. I use to have Bupa through work and used it when I broke my arm and had to be bolted back together. I have also had stuff done on NHS when broke bones and NHS is hopeless.

I have also looked and Medical & General which looks same as Bupa but about 2/3rds of the price. Haven't decided which to take out yet.

reatment you get through Bupa is far better than NHS.

Don't let TJ hear you say that….

I get the feeling that even when the NHS sort this out for me, it won't be long before something else goes wrong.

I'm hoping that what I've got does turn out to be CTS as there seems to be a simple and permanent cure.
However, there is bound to be something else in the future, so I'm wondering if I should take out insurance in advance.
Can anyone give me a rough guide on the price ?
£10 a month ? £50 a month ? Or is it really so dependant on circumstances that it's not possible to make a wild guess ?

i pay 25 quid a month to add my girfriend – with zero pre-existing conditions to my cover – my cover is paid for by work so no idea what it is !

it won't be long before something else goes wrong.

that's right, once bupa fix you, nothing will ever go wrong with you again.

my cover is paid for by work so no idea what it is

Should be on your P11D as a taxable benefit. Mine works out at about £500 pa but that's after a large organisation negotiated it for thousands of people so YMMV.

Pre-ex wont be covered on an individual policy. Only larger group policies would cover you for a pre-ex

What I meant was, if this turns out to be CTS, the NHS will fix it permanently for me, although it may take some time.
What if, in 6 months or 6 years time though, I get some other unrelated medical problem, whether it's a cycling injury or an illness. Will I regret not taking out insurance beforehand instead of being stuck on an NHS waiting list

This may have changed as it was nearly 20 years back. Changed jobs, both firms offered BUPA cover but it meant leaving the old scheme and joining a new one. My wife had had some diagnostics/treatment for peptic ulcers covered under the old scheme but they marked it as a pre-condition on the new one with cover excluded.

If it wasn’t being paid for I’d look around for other cover and check their precondition policies carefully.

Bupa is no bettter than the NHS and sometimes worse. Very good at routine stuff, nice hotel care and more convenience but no junior Docs on call and thus if anything goes wrong its of to the NHS for you. I'd have minor routin e surgery in a UPA hospital, I wouldn#t even consider going to one for anything serious or complex

One thing you will get from BUPA is a lot of unneeded medical tests and treatments.

Medical care is no better at all.

Hotel care is better

If you have problems with your treatment outcomes are worse.

Will I regret not taking out insurance beforehand while I'm on an NHS waiting list

Having worked in the private health insurance industry for the last 6 years, my opinion is if you have something serious wrong with you, the NHS is the place to go, for niggling things private cover is the answer. Most UK PMI plans exclude or restrict coverage for serious conditions anyway meaning you have to resort to the NHS.

I have been quoted £35 a month from Bupa with £250 Excess. Im 31 never smoked and healthy. General & Medical quoted £23 with £200 excess.

I had a look at General & Medical and it was round about £28 – £33 depending on level of cover and excess.
I'm still not decided one way or the other.

Supposing I already had private cover and I had gone to my GP with suspected CTS.
As it is, on the NHS, I have had to wait two months for the tests at the hospital, another three weeks for the results, then an unknown wait for the operation, if that's what's needed.
What would have happened with private cover ?

I was recently chatting to an eminent orthopaedic surgeon who looks after a number of well known international sportspeople and elite athletes (he wasn't touting for business – doesn't need to). His opinion was that if you are seriously into sport, particularly those such as mountainbiking where orthopaedic injuries are common, then private cover was pretty much an essential part of your "kit". Medical care with BUPA is no better than NHS as TJ says, but you'll get much quicker investigations and treatment unless you happen to be a life threatening emergency. If you come off your bike and break your neck, then you'll get no better care anywhere than NHS. If, however, you have a ligament or cartilage problem (something that doesn't need emergency treatment), you'll get your MRI and arthroscopy a lot quicker if you have private insurance (or can afford to pay for it privately). Many "urgent" orthopaedic waiting times are longer than most people expect and I'm sure that there are many here who will have experienced it. No criticism of NHS, just stating how it is. I haven't got private cover either, though.

I was until recently a member of BUPA paying £46 per month, but that was with 55% discount. I am 30, dont smoke, drink a little, generally a normal bloke. Had to declare a pre-existing Pilinoidal Sinus (abcess on arse) which the certificate outlines it will not treat. So your CTS may not be covered. Think if I recall, they ask for consent to contact your GP.

Never needed to use it, but cancelled it so cant comment on service.

Something to bare in mind as well is that you generally only have a limited pot of money for outpatient consultations/tests with a private policy and once that is used up you are back on the NHS again…

I used to get it through work and paid for my other half as well, and she went to see a cardiologist about a blood pressure problem. It only took 2 visits to see him and about 3 sets of tests before the money had run out and she was back on the NHS list.

So, while you will get seen faster, the policy might not cover you for the whole of your testing/treatment for outpatient stuff. I don't think there was any limit on inpatient stuff, but it's worth checking the details to find out.

You don't need to join Bupa to go private.

Just get your Doctor to refer you when/if you have a problem, and make sure the Consultant knows you are paying yourself – you'll get a better deal plus aim for fixed price.

We did this for my wife a few years ago.

On the other side, I use to get a no-holes-barred private contract with work, when my wife had a kidney problem we told the consultant when we were coming in – not the other way around 😆 But that worked out at a taxable benefit of £100pcm – so about £150pcm…

TandemJeremy – Member

Bupa is no bettter than the NHS and sometimes worse. Very good at routine stuff, nice hotel care and more convenience but no junior Docs on call and thus if anything goes wrong its of to the NHS for you. I'd have minor routin e surgery in a UPA hospital, I wouldn#t even consider going to one for anything serious or complex

One thing you will get from BUPA is a lot of unneeded medical tests and treatments.

Medical care is no better at all.

Hotel care is better

If you have problems with your treatment outcomes are worse.

TJ you are losing your touch, this is actually something I agree with. You ruined my friday night.

If you take private health care NHS won't deal with you with the same problem it's either one or the other.

Well it seems to be that at my local NHS Trust. Oh and if I went private I would of been seeing the same person I am now.

Kuco… I don't think they will deal with you at the same time you are getting private medical care, but once you aren't getting private care any more they will.

My basic work policy (many things only covered up to £800 limit, i think), is £28/month.

Err I think you could be right.

Glad I never went private problem been going on for 2 years now 🙁 And seen some of the best people you could see in the medical profession under the NHS. Even though it took some time waiting to be seen on occasions.

Would you be covered for physiotherapy, osteopath, chiropractor etc?

Haven't had PPI for a long time now but do pay to see a chiropractor and physio as and when needed. Am just not prepared to wait for the NHS to deal with me.

Certainly when my son was young, we really had our money's worth as he needed on-going hospital treatment for many years. But that was a company perk.

Edit: I invested in a sports injury book and make my own diagnosis!

Ar 39 it was a company perk – I thought – f*ck it – don't need it

Did nothing

Lucky

Aged 40 – no previous – fairly healthy

Had a heart attack

BUPA – sorted it post haste the 'bills' were very very steep…

no problems – now feel great..

Best company perk – i didn't want

Continued paying for that 'perk' for the last 10 years

and happy to pay back into the system…………..

BUPA are ruthless. At the first sign of anything dodgy they up their prices massively. It's a business, fair enough but my dad paid into them for twenty years and never used them, then he got a brain tumour which BUPA paid, sorted the queue and after care for (and this probably saved my dad's life because he effectively got queue jumped), but the next set of premiums were so high he couldn't afford them.

The only reason he lived past 60 and the subsequent 4 brain operations he had after that, was because the original surgeon was interested in the case and took him on personally.

Gosh gator, that's awful.

I guess it comes down to how much you are prepared to pay for this. For example, if self-employed, then it would almost be a necessity to have.

Medical care is no better at all.

I would suggest that someone hasn't had to attend a NHS fracture clinic recently, plus when it comes to the operation I get the consultant who does it week in week out.

One thing you will get from BUPA is a lot of unneeded medical tests and treatments.

the NHS were about to put me through a load of tests for late onset asthma, this was dismissed in 5 mins by the consultant I was recomended to see

I do agree with post above that for niggling issues/ sports injury it's the only way forward, I get it via work and pay for the wife. Friends have gone private to get chronic conditions properly diagnosed and then switched to NHS. There are negatives but from a real world having done it rather than a ideological rant perspective there are lots of gains as well.

Skip to the end, if you can afford it then join, definitely. I have something similar to BUPA through work and begrudged paying for it automatically. Now I've reached an age where I use it it is magic. You do a hard ride or a hard run and need a massage just get a letter from your doctor and bang, 50 quids worth of massage for free. You can easily make it worth your while

imhe, I never found the "sweet spot" in private health coverage even when I had it through work for free. anything small and trivial and you end paying because of the excess, anything big and serious and the NHS would have sorted you out just as quickly anyway (and probably with the same doctors).

Private GP was the only vaguely useful bit but then local NHS practice reorganised to abolish appointments so everything was walk-in, and then local NHS hospital opened a minor injuries clinic so you didn't have to go to A&E. Once that happened, paying 40 quid to see a locum doctor who didn't know the name of the clinic he was working at (the equivalent of a Saturday LBS boy) lost its appeal.

however, tbf, over the last year or so I've been getting weekly treatments for an ongoing condition and we've been getting back far, far more than we've been putting in in premiums and copays.

On the other side, I use to get a no-holes-barred private contract with work,

I thought it was no HOLDS barred? That said maybe your BUPA contract is no holes barred…..

seriously I'm in BUPA. £700 a year for two of us. It's no better than the NHS but means that you can choose a bit better when you get done etc. I recently had a gallbladder removed and got it in 2 weeks where the NHS would be 3 months. The bills were about £3k. You can choose your consultant a bit and stuff if you get your GP to refer you to the one you want. Last year I bust my shoulder and collar bone and hand and got my GP to refer me to a specislist sports surgeon (who is the surgeon to the Sweedish olympic team). You basically need to do all the leg work then contact your GP and say 'write me this referal letter….' then call BUPA 15 mins later and say 'my GP has refered me to Mr xxx' and they will sanction the treatment over the phone. I guess if you go with the flow you probbably have no advantages in it above the NHS

C

I've just skimmed through the recent reply as I'm about to go to work, I'll come back and read them properly later.

Just a couple of points…
To repeat again, I am not expecting private cover to sort out my CTS, if that's what it turns out to be. I understand that insurance doesn't work by taking out cover after the incident I want to claim for. I am trying to prepare for any unknown, unrelated future problems.

What's the difference between outpatient and inpatient ? Is it simply whether you stay overnight in hospital ?
For example, my tests last Monday where I turned up at 10am, had the tests and left at 11.30am the same day.
If I only had inpatient cover, would they have paid for that, subject to the excess ?

Being vegan and straightedge and exercising regularly, I am far less likely to get most of the usual illnesses that are common amongst overweight middle aged men. It's mainly sports injuries I am concerned about.

I never took out pet insurance on either of my dogs. They both needed expensive treatment towards the end of their lives, but overall, I reckon it cost less than a lifetime's insurance premiums.
Any insurance is a shared risk. If I consider myself a better risk than average, then I will be subsidising those who are a worse risk.
I've just got to work out whether the benefits of a healthy lifestyle outweigh the risks of mountain biking and weightlifting to decide whether I am above or below the average.
In other words, should I just wait until something goes wrong again, then pay for private treatment if I'm not happy with the NHS.

Only read as far as gators post but i want to pass comment on what he said,,,bupa or nhs would hhave sorted you post haste. Speaking from my father have his first age 32 as a healthy fit individual wIth a physical job. His 5th last year age 44 do not under any circumstances doubt the nhs's ability to diagnose and help a heart attack victim ! Some of the drugs alone are 1500 quid according to paramedic . I am very thankful for the paramedics on the nhs each and every time ! And if it were to happen to me i wouldnt bother with finding bupa numbers 999 ambulance i dont care what you do or how you do it just stop it ! – sorry if thats not what you were getting at but its just something i feel strongly about when people diss the nhs .

Or to put it another way…
If a bike costs £1000 and insurance is £100 a year, I can make a guess at whether my bike is likely to be stolen within 10 years.
If AA membership costs £80 a year and I've been towed home once in the last 12 years, and that from only 10 miles away, I would have been better off saving the cost and paying a garage to rescue me privately.

I don't know enough about medical costs and sports injuries to make that decision with regard to private health care.

On a personal membership as opposed to joining thru yr employer, pre-existing conditions won't be covered. The business would go bust if they did – everyone would wait till they're ill, join, take the treatment and then leave.
But BUPA also do self-pay private treatment as well as insurance which should see you treated more quickly than NHS

Give them a call 0800 600 500 and talk to them direct…