The millennium wheel, the U.K. is still inventive even with health insurance.
The Affordable Care Act with all the health insurance exchanges is set to launch in 2014 and that is causing lots of folks consternation that the U.S. is heading for nationalized health care. The main concern is that the government will have, at some point, a monopoly on how Americans receive their health care. After reviewing the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) National Health Service (NHS) universal coverage, we don’t have much to worry about.
Medical +
Even with the NHS universal coverage, which includes dental and vision benefits, the U.K. also sports a robust private health insurance industry. I looked over the health insurance plan offerings from Aviva and found they were surprisingly similar to our traditional individual health insurance plans with a few favorable twists.
Shorter wait times
While the NHS has a wide selection of doctors and hospitals to choose from, a private health insurance plan expands those options. There are still networks of providers with the Aviva Healthier Solutions plan and associated costs are lower if you stay within their network just like a U.S. based plan. Perhaps the biggest selling feature is the quicker access to non-emergency care and consultations afforded through the private network versus the NHS.
Never a claim!
A typical complaint I hear regarding all insurance is “I’ve never had a claim but my premiums always go up.” Insurance premiums will always rise due to age, but the Aviva health insurance plan offers a “No Claims Discount” (NCD) feature. For a small additional fee on the plan you can add the NCD feature:
With our 15 point NCD scale your policy discount increases by one level each year you don’t claim, up to a maximum of 75%. If you make a claim your policy discount will reduce by three levels at your next renewal. If you don’t make any claims during the following year your NCD will start to build up again.
Discount for staying healthy
Another neat feature is the MyHealthCounts optional program. When you enter the program you fill out an on-line health assessment. Your health quality rating, Q score, is measured against 100 people of the same age, race, and gender. They have health coaches to help you improve your Q score. By managing your Q score you can lower your premiums an additional 15%.
I can wait
Because U.K. residents are still enrolled in the NHS, it is almost like having dual coverage. Another option in the Aviva plans to reduce monthly premiums is the the Six Week Option. If you choose this option, they will not pay for in-patient or out-patient treatment, or NHS cash benefit, if the treatment is available to you on the NHS within six weeks. If there is an NHS wait of six weeks or more, the plan is activated and they cover prompt access to a hospital on your chosen list.
Competitive pricing
Just like U.S. plans, you can lower your monthly premium by adding various levels of deductible, called excesses in the U.K. But I still had to check the premium rates to see how competitive the Aviva plans were to U.S. policies. From their website, with no discounts of any sort, full coverage, a 49 year old man in London would pay $1,569 per year. A similar plan in the U.S. would cost at approximately $5,300 in the Sacramento area. A quick check of how much the U.K. spends per person for NHS coverage yielded about $2,500 per year. (Remember that includes dental and vision) While there is no specific individual direct tax to fund NHS coverage, the cost of private insurance plus the NHS is still lower than a U.S. plan.
Features we want
Even with socialized medicine, the U.K. still has a competitive private health insurance market place. For those folks that want some expanded coverage, discounts for staying healthy and not filing claims, health insurance plans like that offered by Aviva would seem like a natural choice. With luck, we’ll see some of the unique plan features in Aviva’s plans offered in U.S. health insurance policies in the future.