Hello,
Need some advice please? I was dx 10 years ago with primary BC.
As I had cover under my husbands employers scheme of PMI I had my treatment privately, not sure whether treatment was any better but certainly quicker.
Three years ago I had to start paying for my own PMI and for the last 3 years have had to have a high excess to get the premiums down but even now the premiums have crept up and I cannot have a higher excess. I have been having yearly consultations with my Onc and Breast Cancer surgeon plus mamogram and last year had to have a full body scan which altogether nearly came to the excess so it was an expensive year! But now my surgeon has discharged me as it is 10 years since dx and I expect my Onc to discharge me in the summer.
I had made the decision to cancel my PMI with Bupa but my husband thought that if I could get the premium down even lower he would feel happier but after a long call to Bupa today its not going to happen.
The premiums are nearly £200 a month and I’m not working anyway because the side effects of Letrozole which I finish in April .have given me problems with my joints etc.
My GP has said that I would be fine under the NHS and I am using the NHS for treatment of the Burning Mouth Syndrome that I have developed since starting Letrozole so really was only using Bupa for cancer cover.
Any advice would be helpful, has anyone done the same and returned to the NHS?
Thank you
Hazel
I can’t offer advice but empathy. Again I was on hubbies cover at diagnosis. He changed job and the new health provider would not cover me, instead they gave us a contribution to the existing policy. I’ve watched premiums go up and up over 5 years - now over £300/ month for family cover, thank God the rest are healthy!
Ironically I was down to see my first surgeon on the NHS list but got to see him a week earlier at first (didn’t know at the time). Now my guy works away so i couldn’t get to see him via NHS…could you keep your doc?
Just a thought
It’s a big jump and I wish you well with the descision…my experience is its a one way ticket if you leave a company.
Regards,
Sarah
Hello, Hazelmary. I completed all my treatment for PBC, Invasive DCIS- surgery, chemo and radio, through my husband’s Corporate private Insurance cover, which came as a perk of his job.
He left his old job a while after I had completed treatment, and the monthly premiums for me to keep it up, were ridiculous.
I now pay £90 for private mammograms each year- they give you the results there and then, as I could not cope with the anxiety of two or three weeks wait on the NHS. I also continue to see my Consultants privately each six months [£125 per consultation] - however, should I need surgery again in the future, I would have to have it on the NHS, as I would not be able to afford the thousands of pounds that that would involve, but I am happy to pay for the mammograms and the consultations, especially as it would be a lottery whether I would see the ‘Head Honchos’ on the NHS.
I hope that helps.
I have experienced both systems of healthcare in UK i.e. NHS and private. Just wanted to make a quick comment about the pereceived “lottery” of whether you get to see the “Head Honch on the NHS”. On occasion I have requested to see a specific consultant at various NHS outpatients clinics (oncology, breast surgery, orthopaedics) and this has always been accommodated and the only minor inconvenience has been that I’ve needed to wait for perhaps another 20 minutes or so. As far as I’m aware, you only need to ask and this is also the same if you wish to be transferred to a different consultant’s list (caseload).
Hope you don’t mind my mentioning this but I have found that a lot of people just don’t ask.