Well private health is going up in price here, every year. The biggest problem is getting those just joining the work force to join. They are, naturally full of nothing will happen to me, so won't join. If everyone was in it it would be cheap, the young would buoy up the old. Waiting lists are long on NHS here as it is in the UK. Even life and death operation's have to join the queue. Private health insurance is like any other insurance. Do you really need it, when lives are at stake, yes. Is going into a private hospital better than a public hospital? No! But in life and death situations the answer is yes. I had a collapsed lung recently, ended up in a public hospital, the Jessie McPherson private hospital was through an adjoining wall about 20 meters away. I asked if they could wheel me through to the private, I was told I would get better care in public than private. I later found that to be true. I had to get the operation done privately because of the public waiting list for procedures. The nursing staff in private was absolute crap, they were all trainees from all over the globe with hardly a certified nurse between them.