Health Insurance Quotes

September 29th, 2010

There are many medical insurance policies out there for people to choose from. In reality sifting through all the detailed policy information can be tricky and time consuming but the internet has made the first step much easier by allowing you to obtain a quick health insurance quote at the click of a button.

Freedom Healthnet allow you to get a quick private health insurance quote very easily by asking you a few relevant questions. People also find that comparison websites are very useful to give an overview of the different policies available. Two very popular health insurance comparison sites are comparethemarket.com and moneysupermarket.com.

Comparison sites have their limitations however. For example, not every insurance company subscribes to them so the choices you see on the screen are not the only ones available. They also only offer an overview.

Medical insurance companies offer many different types of policies with different exclusions that a customer needs to be made aware of. Reviewing policy documents in detail once you have made a few selections is important. Its much better to do your homework than regret it later when your policy fails to meet your expectations in times of illness.

Quotes are only the first step and allow you to see what your costs are likely to be but it is a very important aspect. People are looking for affordable health insurance that enables them to get good cover without breaking the bank.

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Crackdown on Health Screening

September 27th, 2010

Health screening provided by private companies has come under criticism and review. In a bid to protect the public the government announced that new guidelines were to be put into place that would limit the type of screening offered by private health companies.

Private hospitals like Bupa, for example, offer a wide range of screening programmes which are designed to detect early signs of illness with the view that when some things are caught early they are very treatable.

The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) advised the government that the use of CT scans in routine check-ups could do more harm than good and that their use should be limited. CT scans emit 400 times more radiation than a normal x-ray.

COMARE state in their press release:

“… we have strongly recommended that services offering whole body CT scanning of asymptomatic individuals should discontinue to do so. In addition, CT should not be used in assessment of spinal conditions, body fat and osteoporosis in asymptomatic individuals.’

Talking to the BBC, Dr Tony Nicholson, Dean of the Royal College of Radiologists, said:

‘This regulation will make the rules on CT scans more understandable. It’s just not possible to justify using ionising radiation if there’s no proven benefit.’

Former Public Health Minister, Gillian Merron said:

‘Any scan a patient undergoes should balance the clinical benefits against the risks of the radiation involved.

She added, ‘I welcome the decision to define more closely the considerations that should govern CT scanning in cases of individual health assessments.’

COMARE also advised the government that people who have CT should be advised as to the possible effects of radiation and informed about the instances of false negative and positive results they can provide. What most people do not realise is that CT scans can be interpreted in different ways by radiographers.

Companies that offer screening without having the right medical back up have also been criticised. COMARE recommended that all commercial screening companies refer patients with symptoms back to their GPs for investigation.

Conversely some rare and potentially dangerous illnesses can be detected using CT scans. Pheochromocytomas (a tumour of the adrenal gland which in 10% of cases is cancerous), for example, can be illusive. In some cases they can be more or less symptomless. Although these tumours are very rare (1-2 people in a million have them) they can be very dangerous if undetected.

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Single Sex Wards

September 24th, 2010

In general people who have private health insurance can enjoy being looked after in a private room. However in the NHS there are still many instances where men and women share the same wards. Last month the government announced that this had to change.

Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley has asked for there to be a review of mixed wards to see what changes need to be made in order to provide a segregated service. According to the statistics currently one in ten patients stay in a mixed ward.

Accident and emergency wards and intensive care units are seen as a different case and it is suggested that the segregation rules will not apply in these cases. In intensive care and high dependency units there is a very good nurse to patient ratio; approximately one nurse to every one or two patients. However it is in these wards that patients are most vulnerable and exposed as often they cannot do things or themselves.

In large hospitals with more than one intensive care ward there is room for improvement. In Southampton General Hospital, for example, there are two areas for surgical intensive patients yet both men and women are mixed in together. This is not necessary. In a recent case a ward Sister at Southampton tried to manage the beds so that men and women were separated but the attitudes of some of the staff was that the patients are ‘just patients, not men and women’.   This may be the case for the staff but not necessarily for the patients.

Private medical insurance clients cannot be treated as an emergency in private hospitals as they are not designed or equipped or this. Neither do private hospitals have intensive care units. Patients who are admitted into the NHS for emergency care can be transferred for private treatment once they have been stabilised.

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Employers Responsible For Workers Health?

September 22nd, 2010

According to a recent survey conducted by cash plan and medical insurance provider Simplyhealth many employers feel they are jointly responsible for an employees health. This can only be a good thing for employees who may see an increase in the company medical insurance benefits that are provided in their place of work.

Another recent report by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) suggests that much ill health is attributed to the workplace and that health and safety issues are at the root of the problem.

The report states:

‘In recent years there has been a growing belief that the workplace is a much safer place than it was, most workers are at little risk, and that as a result much of the regulation that we have is unnecessary. It is this perception that has, in part, led to a growing tendency to dismiss health and safety as being about only factories and mines and which has fed calls for regulations, or enforcement, to be reduced.’

According to the TUC report last year:

• 28,692 major worker injuries were reported
• 105,222 workers had to take at least three days off work due to injury
• 551,000 new cases of illness were caused by work last year
• 1,200,000 who are currently off work say that the reason for their absence is work related
• there have been big rises in musculoskeletal disorder
• there have been big rises in mental health issues
• 415,000 people suffered from a work-related stress illness last year

These statistics show that there is clearly a case for greater employer responsibility for employee health in the work place.

The survey says that a quarter of employers said they wanted to increase the health care benefits the people working for them receive and out of the 257 HR managers surveyed 64% agreed that companies shared responsibilities for employee health with individuals, the government and communities. However nearly a quarter felt that it was solely the individual’s responsibility.

James Glover, Simplyhealth’s corporate sales and marketing director, said: ‘It’s apparent that companies are seriously having to consider the role they play in supporting employees and indeed, the greater good.’

The report also highlighted areas in which HR managers did not feel responsibility. These included obesity problems and cessation of smoking.

Freedom Healthnet provides company medical insurance and offers great flexibility by offering policies to suit companies with anything from three employees up to large corporations.

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Travel Superbug Threat

September 20th, 2010

Many individuals are choosing to take their money abroad and pay for cheaper surgery. However a recent report indicates that a resistant superbug may have been introduced into the UK by patients having surgery abroad in countries like India and Pakistan.

The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal says that about 50 cases of the new bacteria have been reported in the UK. Other cases have also been recorded in the US, Canada, Australia and The Netherlands. The bacteria make an enzyme called NDM-1 and it is this enzyme which causes the problem. It can live in other bacteria, for example E-coli, making them resistant to even the strongest antibiotics.

Director of antibiotic resistance monitoring at HPA, Dr David Livermore , said that resistance to the carbapenems, one of the major groups of antibiotics, is found throughout India. He said

‘This is important because carbapenems were often the last ‘good’ antibiotics active against bacteria that already were more resistant to more standard drugs.

We have now also identified bacteria with this type of resistance – NDM – in around 50 patients in the UK.

‘Most not all, had previously travelled to the Indian subcontinent and many had received hospital treatment there.

‘International travel gives a great potential for spread of resistant bacteria between countries.’

A Department of Health spokesperson said:

‘We are working with the Health Protection Agency. The HPA alerted the NHS in January and July this year to be vigilant about these bacteria and take appropriate action where necessary.

‘Hospitals need to ensure they continue to provide good infection control to prevent any spread, consider whether patients have recently been treated abroad and send samples to the HPA for testing.’

At least one of the NDM-1 bacteria that the scientists studied was resistant to all known antibiotics.

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Over 50’s Health Screening

September 15th, 2010

This week is Sexual Health Week where The Family Planning Association (fpa) are launching some initiatives to raise awareness about sexually transmitted diseases. Sexual Health Screening is available from various sources including private medical screening companies.

This week the fpa are targeting the over 50’s. It is the first time this age group has been the focus of a sexual health screening initiative. They are being targeted because the statistics show that there is a rise in STI’s in this age category.

STI’s that are left untreated can have serious health consequences. Simple screening can help to stem the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and also allows health professionals to educate people on how to best protect themselves.

Previous campaigns have focused on young people where alcohol related sexual activity is thought to influence the high rates of STI’s amongst this group. With high divorce rates however among the over 50’s many people are entering the ’single scene’ for the first time in a long time without full knowledge about how common and easily spread STI’s are.

Overall the number of STIs has increased recently. The figures show an increase of 50% compared to ten years ago.

Sexual health screening is readily available free from Sexual Health Clinics. To find a clinic you can visit your GP or call the Department of Health’s sexual health helpline on 0800 567 123. Alternatively you can search the fpa’s GUM clinic search.

Although sexual health screening is offered for free by the NHS some people might prefer the privacy and discretion of being testing in a private medical establishment. Bupa, for example, offer their Sexual Health screening for £342 as a stand alone package or £290 as an add on to one of their other screening packages. The tests include blood tests, swabs and urine tests for all common sexually transmitted infections.

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Diabetes Drug Avianda Available on NHS despite Heart Attack Concerns

September 6th, 2010

A drug for type 2 diabetes that has been recommended for suspension by an expert panel is still being prescribed by the NHS, the BBC warns.

The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has recommended suspending the use of the Glaxo Smithkline drug Avianda as it is being investigated for causing a raised risk of heart attacks and heart failure throughout Europe.

The drug, also known as Rosiglitazone, was prescribed over a million times last year and is the subject of a panorama documentary

http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stm

The MHRA sent letters to healthcare professionals asking them to “consider alternative treatments where appropriate”.

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