Private health insurance can be a privilege to acquire. However, there are many reasons a person might struggle to get their own. Chronic and pre-existing conditions are not always covered. Cosmetic surgeries are also typically excluded. Furthermore, some people may miss enrolment deadlines or face troubling questions around affordability. Regardless of your reasons for being unable to secure private health insurance, you still have some options open to you. After all, more Britons are moving away from NHS care and paying for their medical treatment. If you’re savvy enough, you could be among them. Here’s what to do if you can’t secure private health insurance.
Talk to Your GP
Before booking an appointment with a private healthcare provider, you may require a referral letter from your NHS GP. Still, even when you might not need one, consulting your NHS GP first is worthwhile. Your GP can recommend health insurance providers and specialists that align with your price range. Consulting them can help you compose a plan of action and perhaps even provide crucial assurances. Hopefully, you’ll feel more confident after seeing them.
Remember, your GP should strive to have good relations with patients. They do more than treat illnesses and prescribe medication; GPs are friendly individuals who can counsel you through your struggles. You can talk to them about your concerns regarding your physical or mental well-being, big or small. There are no agendas or ulterior motives you can expect to encounter here. If you feel hopeless about securing private health insurance, a quick appointment with your GP should soon turn things around.
Explore Ways to Pay
Some people assume that private healthcare providers are strict with payment processes. However, many can be flexible and have a patient-first approach to things. Recognised by an assortment of trusted partners and insurers, Circle Health Group explains how you can pay for treatment at one of their private hospitals. They detail ways to pay for your treatment, strategies around spreading the cost, or activating any health insurance if you did manage to find some in the end.
Consequently, you’re certainly not abandoned here. You can feasibly pay for private healthcare in smaller monthly instalments under a competitive pricing scheme. Even the repayment period can be chosen by you, ranging from one to five years. You can also benefit from 12 months of interest-free credit if you’re approved. Eligibility requirements are encouraging too. If you’re over 18, have a personal credit account, a job, and have had a consultation, you can start getting the ball rolling immediately.
Remain Productive
Making progress with securing private health insurance or self-paying is hard if you’re panicked or debilitated by setbacks. Being unable to secure private health insurance can be disappointing, but you’re not out of options yet and must remain proactive. If you need private treatment, you must act fast with unearthing solutions. Otherwise, you may as well be in a long NHS backlog or on one of their waiting lists that seem to move painstakingly slow. There’s always something you can be doing to better things, even if you’re reviewing your savings and pension pots, depending on your circumstances and the nature of the treatment you require.
You can sit down with trusted friends and family to review your expenditure. You could also consult accountants and financial advisors to see if you can move some money around. It may also be worth selling some choice items you no longer use or exploring fundraising opportunities if your treatment is urgently needed.
Be Open-Minded and Flexible
Being rejected by one private health insurance provider, or even a handful of them, isn’t a refusal from all of them. If you have plenty of time to spare, you can spend it by shopping around continuously. There is a range of insurance options out there. Some will reduce costs if you remove parts of the coverage you don’t need. Other policies may offer discounts if the NHS can’t treat you and pride themselves on offering highly competitive rates. Cover varies enormously between providers. Shop around and look for those mitigating factors, and you may be able to reconsider your position.
You can also alternate between NHS and private treatment in many circumstances. For example, you could just pay for an expert second opinion before being referred back to the NHS for the treatment you require. If you’re open to reshuffling your outlook and strategies, there could be many unexpected ways by which you can make things work.
Conclusion
Struggling to secure private health insurance can be highly demoralising. That said, persistence is key to persevering through these challenging times. Seeking help from your GP is the first step, but then you should be open to reviewing payment options, your finances, and bouts of creative problem-solving. Both personal and professional support is available, and options could be plentiful, even if it doesn’t seem like it initially. Try to be hopeful and proactive, and you should be able to make some progress that you’re happy with.
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