The grass is not greener on the other side.

[Kernishp]

Hi ladies, I just wanted to post about my experience with private healthcare and fertility here as I've seen a few posts now where people are thinking the UK Govt should abandon the NHS and adopt the private healthcare model that exists in most other countries in the world.

Firstly let me say that I think the waiting times, restrictions and post code lottery imposed by the NHS on fertility treatment is horrific, unfair and wrong.

But let me also say, as someone who lives in a country where the only option is private healthcare- you really don't want the UK to go down this route.

For a start fertility treatment is very rarely covered under any private healthcare insurance- even the 'really good' gold and platinum BUPA affiliated policies will not cover it. So if there was no NHS you can pretty much guarantee you would have to pay for fertility treatment- and not just for IVF/ICSI/IUI- you would have to pay for every sperm analysis, hormonal blood test, internal ultrasound, HSG, etc before you even got to the really expensive part. Also, the private healthcare system is run for profit, so the more tests you have, the more money someone somewhere is making so you can bet you would be given a few extra blood tests or scans along the way that are likely to be far from essential.

You would assume that if you are paying a lot of money for an IVF cycle privately then you would be getting more attention and observation from medical professionals. Again, sadly this is not always the case. We had to fight with our clinic to stop them giving us the 'McIVF' cycle that they seem to give everyone and which was less thorough than a lot of NHS providers. We did eventually get our own way but it involved changing doctors, meeting with the clinic management and a lot of stress and tears.

If you are lucky enough to get pregnant then maternity cover under private healthcare is nothing short of criminal. Some healthcare providers will not cover you for maternity until you have had the cover for a set amount of time, if you fall pregnant before this set period- tough luck, you will pay full price for everything and woe betide your bank balance if you need an emergency C-section in order to save both yours and your baby's life.

So far in my pregnancy my insurance has refused to pay for both my 12 and 20 week scans. It is illegal for them to refuse to pay for the 20 week scan as the Government of this country has ruled it is an essential scan, however they have still refused to cover it. We will have to pay for it and then fight to claim the money back. They have also refused to pay for my delivery, which again, is illegal- so we will also have to fight for this. I am expecting twins, there is a higher medical charge for everything involving twins but we get no additional insurance to reflect this so we have to pay for everything involving twin 2 ourselves. There is a higher chance our daughters will be born early and need to spend time in a NICU (SCBU), again it is against the law for an insurer not to cover the costs associated with premature birth; however the reality is insurers do refuse to pay for it directly and distraught parents are presented with bills of hundreds of thousands of pounds by hospital administrators which they have to pay and then try to claim back.

As you can imagine this constant battle to get necessary medical treatment adds a lot of stress to pregnancy and takes away a lot of the joy associated with bringing your child into the world; when our children are born my husband will have to spend his first few days of fatherhood not cooing over his new daughters and enjoying the two wonderful gifts IVF has given us- but fighting with an insurance company to get them to pay for medical care that they legally have to pay for.

Even if our insurers were not being so difficult and agreed to pay for what we need, it still wouldn't be free- on most policies you have to pay between 20-40% of the treatment cost- compared to 0% of the treatment cost with the NHS.

You may be thinking "She clearly doesn't have very good insurance" or "She lives in a third world country that is rife with corruption" - neither of these are true. My medical insurance is a fully comprehensive, BUPA associated one. It comes as part of my husband's job package, my husband has a very good job with a salary of £80,000+ (I dread to think how badly we'd be treated if we had to use the insurance that comes with my lowly teacher job). We live in the UAE which is incredibly oil rich, has a small population, a very low crime rate and internal peace and stability. It also has some of the most technologically advanced hospitals and some of the best doctors in the world- all of which are inaccessible unless you are mega rich and can pay for them out of your own pocket.

Finally, a quick point about pre-existing conditions and private healthcare. Some policies do not cover pre existing conditions, so if you had something like diabetes before getting your policy and it didn't cover pre existing conditions then you would have to pay full price for all your medication. If you develop a condition while under a policy the insurers will have to pay for that- however when the time comes to renew that insurance (annually) your condition then becomes a pre existing condition and is no longer covered so you can expect a year of 'free' treatment and then have to pay for treatment for the rest of your life.

So, in conclusion- you have to fight for the medical attention you need no matter who you are or where you live, at least accessing the NHS does not depend on your salary and won't bankrupt you.

Apologies for the essay. I miss home and the NHS.

[Jellydog81]

Thank you for your post. I agree with you private IVF is not alway the best option but for many the only option and although I'm not that far into the process (we've been TTC for three years, had a miscarriage one year ago and sometimes feel like we're getting nowhere). I've just moved to Essex and have to start the process again (I had a HSG back in South-West London where I use to live and was told that I could be referred for NHS IVF when I'm 34) now the CCG in Basildon and Brentwood want to cut funding for fertility treatment (I'm in Redbridge) and this could affect us at a later date. I agree that the waiting times, restriction and post code lottery for NHS treatment is unfair and horrific. I'm still waiting for my referral to the fertility clinic, been waiting for four weeks now because my husband has to be referred (he is not registered at the doctors) and we've been waiting three weeks for a nurse appointment. I'm feeling so frustrated. I am happy to hear when woman struggling to conceive get pregnant but it also reminds me how slow my own journey is going.

All the best for the future.

Kim xx

[Filmgirl101]

I emigrated to theUK through marriage 10 years ago, the NHS has problems, but nothing compared to America! Both of my sisters a full year after the birth of their children are still being presented with various bills of things not covered by their insurances. One sister needed a little help to conceive, they were responsible for the first £10k, she managed to get pregnant, then her insurance said it won't cover c-sections until it's an absolute emergency. So my sister was n labour for 28 hours until the baby's heart stopped a couple times. The doctor knew that the baby couldn't come out, but they had to wait to be covered. Her latest bill was for a home visit with the lactation consultant. The doctor thought her little one needed assistance, she wasn't told it wasn't covered by insurance. It set them back £1000, payable immediately.

The other had preeclampsia and delivered 8 weeks preterm. Their 20% share was over 100k. They had to file bankruptcy. Their only debt was the baby. They only make 25k per year. The insurance company and hospital were very rude about it saying they were made aware of the costs upfront. But really?! You can't choose between your helpless baby and money!

At least here everything is relatively transparent with only a few surprises now and again. It isn't fair in regards to postcode lotteries, but at least we know we'll be treated if we have an emergency. There is nothing scarier than being in an accident and having the ambulance crew going through your pockets trying to figure out if you're insured and which hospital you're allowed to go to. It truly is no joke, you can't just go to the nearest hospital.

And forget having a preexisting condition! Or being born with something! You are right, private is not always greener, and it is very expensive. And sometimes the private care is subpar. I had lots of experience with that as I could only afford the cheapest care. It cost me 20% of my salary. A doctor visit cost $50, prescriptions $40, X-ray $200, etc. (that's with insurance, imagine without)

A lot of things I deal with now, could have been prevented with proper care in my youth, but we had no insurance and my parents were worried about having something expensive classified as a preexisting condition in my future. I've experienced private on a lot of levels. America and Europe.

And I participate in medical tourism. We went to Denmark for IVF, it was very good and I can't fault it, it was a really good facility with new procedures. Hubby has insurance through his work, we didn't contact them, it doesn't cover fertility treatments. So it was privately funded all the way. But tourism has downfalls, Denmark took copies of all my medical files, but UK didn't want to know. So how we conceived is relatively a mystery to them! So if I had had major complications, it may have been difficult.

We know America has a lot of problems, so why do we keep trying to push to follow their model? Ours has problems, but theirs are worse.

Say NO TO PRIVATISATION!