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Health insurance is advertised all the time. We see and hear it on the television, radio, newspapers, magazines and of course online. All the main providers have a range of plans available. But what is health insurance and why do you need it?
We in the UK are very lucky to have the NHS available to us. It still remains free at the point of care, no matter what the problem is. Major illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and strokes are treated everyday by the NHS. So we don’t have the worry about what happens to us if we become ill.
Having said that however, we must not lose sight of the problems there are with the NHS. It is a vast organisation with an enormous amount of different types of health care it needs to provide. From simple outpatients to 15 hour long operations involving large numbers of staff all eventualities have to be covered. This often means it doesn’t move as fast as you might like.
For instance if you have cancer you will probably want your investigations doing as quickly as possible. In the NHS it could take several weeks to have the investigations and get the results. Then a further wait for the treatment.
With health insurance things are totally different. You will often have your investigations carried and reported on within a week. Your treatment then starts very quickly afterwards. This is the major aspect that attracts many people. As studies show that early treatment improves the outcome this is a big plus.
For more routine non life threatening medical conditions such as hernias or varicose veins the NHS will often make you wait for 18 weeks. You have o fit round the surgeon. With private insurance you talk with the surgeon and agree a date for your operation, often withing 1 or 2 weeks.
This in built flexibility is one of the main reasons many people look at health insurance. It gives then more control over their treatment. In addition research has demonstrated the infection rates in private hospitals are much lower than in the NHS.
So if you have some spare cash and want an added layer of comfort in your life think about heath insurance. It can be very reasonably priced and may even save your life.
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