The Cheapest Health Insurance

With many families still feeling the pinch of the recession cheap health insurance is something that they are still interested in. In order to find good deals and quicly compare what is available the best way forward is to look on comparison sites such as comparethemarket.com or moneysupermarket.com.

Not all sites carry policies from all providers however so it is worth looking at all available comparison sites to see what there is. With moneysupermarket.com for example Freedom Healthnet provides the cheapest health insurance at £17.98 a month for a 40 year old, non-smoking, man living in Northampton to have Freedom Gold Inpatient medical insurance. Comparethemarket.com however does not use Freedom Healthnet at all.

The advantage of looking on comparison sites is that you can compare like for like policies quickly and easily. Health insurance policies are getting better but they are legal documents which can be quite complicated and detailed.

An alternative method when you are looking for cheap health insurance is to go online to each company and look at what they quote you. It is important to be honest at this stage when you answer questions online so that you get a realistic quotation. Private medical insurance companies will need to ask you several questions online so that they can give you an accurate quote:

• Your age
• Your sex
• Where you live
• Whether you smoke

Some companies also ask you about medical conditions you may have, for example, if you are diabetic. Looking online will enable you to look at each companies documents in order to assess what cover you might need.

The disadvantage of online quotes is that they cannot be totally accurate. On the whole they do not take account of your medical or family history for example, all of which will affect your cover.

Some companies, for example, Bupa, are unwilling to give online quotes as they say that talking to people individually is a better way to assess their needs and therefore to give them an accurate quote.

An alternative way of looking for cheap health insurance is to go to an independent advisor. However bare in mind that they take commission from health insurance companies for selling their policies. Additionally not all independent advisors will know about every policy.

Male Cancer Awareness Week

The health insurance industry has concerns at the moment about how it will fund cancer cover in the future. The aim is that health education and early detection will help to reduce the need for health insurance for cancer. This week is Male Cancer Awareness Week. Every year Orchid, the mail cancer charity use this week to raise awareness about cancers that are specific to men: testicular, penile and prostrate.

Orchid is the only UK charity which focuses only on male cancers. It was formed by a testicular cancer patient in 1997 with the aim of helping to save lives by raising awareness, giving support and advice as well as funding cancer research.

Every year 37,400 men are diagnosed with a male specific cancer:

• 35,000 with prostrate cancer
• 2,000 with testicular cancer
• 400 with penile cancer

Some of the things that Orchid have done this week include:

• A survey into the awareness of hereditary prostrate cancer has so far found that 53% of people are unaware that there is a hereditary link to prostrate cancer. They have also developed a factsheet and awareness poster in conjunction with the survey.
• A Prostate Cancer Q&A session for patients and their families was held on the 14 April at Bart’s Hospital.
• They have launched a fundraising campaign called ‘37,000 steps to beat male cancer.' The innivotive campaign encourages people to organise events based around the number 37,000. For example, bake 37 cakes, run for 37 minutes, stay silent for 37 hours.
• A 3.7km run took place on Wednesday 14 April at 5.30pm along the river starting at Paternoster Square

Conservative Promises

The current political climate means that all parties are talking about what they want to do with the NHS.

If the conservatives win the election they have promised to allow any healthcare provider that meets NHS standards to provide NHS care. Currently NHS patients are sometimes treated in private health establishments but under a conservative parliament more NHS patients will be treated in the same places as health insurance customers. This raises questions about whether there needs to be a different kind of provision for medical insurance patients.

Ramsay Health Care, the private hospital operator has already implemented changes. NHS patients only receive an 'Essential Care' package whereas their 'Premium Care' package for private clients includes more luxurious treatment including a choice of consultant, ability to choice an appointment day and time as well as better hotel services such as newspapers and an a la carte menu. According to Ramsay Health Care, the Premier package is there to:

'Ensure that private patients continue to see a clear, fair and distinct benefit from their investment.'

It is unclear whether private patients will be happy to be treated in the same place as NHS patients. So far the answer is 'no'. Additionally it is likely that people will be more reluctant to take out health insurance if they know they can be treated well and more promptly in private hospitals via the NHS, particularly as the conservatives want to give people more choice as to where they are treated. This will impact on medical insurance providers who in turn will put pressure on health establishments to create a more differentiated health care offering.

The likelihood is that more and more private hospitals will begin to differentiate between luxurious private treatment and standard NHS care. It is also likely that more private hospitals that are only designated to treat NHS patients will open up, leaving traditional private hospitals to cater for health insurance patients and privately paying individuals.

The conservatives have also promised to give people access to a GP seven days a week between the hours of 8am and 8pm. They have also pledged to increase single rooms in hospitals although they have retreated on their original promise of 45,000 new rooms.

Health Cover Survey

According to Deloitte's 2010 Survey of Health Care Consumers only a quarter of respondents said they felt they had enough health cover: four out of five said they were only 'adequately insured.'

The Deloitte survey looked at 1,000 British adults in order to find out consumer attitudes about both private and NHS medical treatment. Over a third of respondents said that they had cash plan cover but despite people's dissatisfaction with the amount of cover they had only 2% had switched private health insurance plans. 58% of those who had changed plan did so to get better value for money.

One of the biggest complaints about medical insurance was the fact that 'experimental' treatments were not covered. Experimental treatments refer to those that do not yet have enough data behind them to certify them as conclusively effective. PruHealth, for example, do cover experimental treatments as part of their plans. This is unusual however. 69% of respondents said that they would be prepared to try experimental treatments.

The findings seem to support the health insurance market's move towards illness prevention. Over half of respondents said they had a 'strong interest' in taking part in wellness programmes and 49% said they would take part in healthy living programmes if they could get reduced private medical insurance.

NHS
The NHS didn't fair too badly in the Deloitte survey. 67% of respondents said that they were 'happy' with the NHS. 50% said that it was 'average', a fifth said that it was 'failing' but only 2% said that it was excellent. The most dissatisfaction concerned waiting times which 46% of respondents felt was 'poor' and the amount of accessible information about doctor's performance where 42% felt that it was poor.

CT Scan Crackdown

Health screening is something that is generally considered to be a good thing in medicine. Early detection of problems can mean that serious illness can be avoided or limited. Some private medical insurance companies, for example, PruHealth even encourage their customers to have health screens by giving them decreased premiums if they take part. However recent controversies over private health screening are putting the practise into the spotlight.

Computerised tomography (CT) scans give detailed 3D x-ray type images but the government has announced new regulations that will limit the use of these scans by health screen providers. The new regulations have come about as a result of a desire to protect the public.

CT scans are used as routine MOT tools even though they emit 400 times the amount of radiation than that of a normal x-ray. The Department of Health wants the benefits of using this method of investigation to outweigh the risk of radiation. When going through the NHS the GP has control over whether patients are referred for CT scans but this does not apply in the open market of private health screening.

Currently private health companies have been able to use CT scans as a general screening tool but the new rules will prevent them from being used for spinal conditions, osteoporosis and body fat assessment. The new rules bring the use of CT scans in private health into line with NHS protocols.

Responsible providers are already showing caution. Bupa for example will only take an xray of the lungs if there are symptoms that would warrant it.

Questions to Ask: Cancer Health Insurance

Choosing health insurance for cancer is not as simple as it may sound. This is because there is a very varied offering when it comes to private medical insurance for cancer. Some companies provide very basic levels of cancer cover whereas others offer very full cancer cover. It is important to ask the right questions in order to get what you want from your health insurance.

Will I be covered for all stages of cancer treatment?
Some cancers can be treated and will never return. Others can return and be treated. When cancer cannot be removed altogether patients can have treatment which keeps their symptoms at bay and prolongs life.

Some policies offer cover for all stages of cancer. Others do not. Often when cancer cannot be removed then the patients condition is considered to be 'chronic' and therefore not covered by many health insurance policies.

Most policies will not cover patients in the final stages of cancer, during palliative care.

Are any treatments excluded?
Some policies exclude some types of treatments. Experimental treatment for example are only covered by some health insurers. Some drugs are not covered by some private health insurance companies. Herceptin, Velcade and Sutent, are examples of drugs that have been the topic of debate in the press.

At what point do benefits stop?
Different policies have different levels of cover. The number of treatments given, the total cost of treatment and the length of time the treatment may last are all considerations.

Where will I be treated?
What hospitals and consultants are on the health insurers approved list.

Does the cover include a holistic approach to cancer?
Some companies provide cover that takes into account the general wellbeing of the client. They may offer counselling and complimentary therapies and provide cover for wigs, steroids and anti-sickness drugs.

Bupa Carer of the Year Award

Bupa is the UK's largest health insurance company. They are always in the public eye, not just for their health care offerings but also for their involvement in healthcare projects across the UK. One of their latest is their Carer of the Year Award which they have launched in conjunction with the Daily Mail.

Bupa is appealing to the public to nominate derserving careers that they know. The award is designed to highlight the hard work and effort that carers put into looking after the people in their care. The award is open to health care professionals as well as members of the public. There are five categories:

• Dementia Carer - people of all ages caring for one or more people with dementia.
• Care Home Carer/Assistant - An exceptional carer or support worker who is a tower of strength.
• Family Carer - people who care for a relative, family member, or friend.
• Parent Carer - a parent or guardian caring for a child.
• Young Carer - a young person under 18 years who is looking after a family member.

The awards ceremony and luncheon will take place in London on 11th May this year. The event will be hosted by ITV's This Morning's Ruth Langsford and all the finalists will be invited to attend as part of an all expenses paid VIP London break. The Carer Of The Year will receive a luxury holiday and the proceeds of the event will go towards The Alzheimer Society.

Bupa Care Services managing director Mark Ellerby said:

'Bupa is proud to support this initiative. Every day I see dedicated carers in action. These awards are a fantastic opportunity for all of us to show our appreciation to these amazing people across the country who make such a difference to the lives of those in their care.'