Private vs Public Healthcare Calculator

Healthcare funding in most countries runs on two tracks: a tax-funded public system and optional private insurance. The pure cash comparison ignores quality, waiting times, and the risk of a large uninsured bill — but knowing the baseline cost gap helps frame the decision. A 120/month private policy costs 14,400 over 10 years; a 1,200/year public contribution costs 12,000 — the gap is 2,400.

How to use it

Input the monthly private premium, the annual public contribution you are paying (tax or payroll), and the horizon. The tool shows the total for each and the difference.

What the result means

The pure cash gap across your horizon. Positive value of the larger side does not mean the cheaper option is better — coverage, quality, and access differ. This number is one input among several.

Cost comparator.

A worked example

Try the defaults: private monthly premium of 120, annual public contribution of 1,200, horizon of 10. The tool returns 2,400.00. You can adjust any input and the result updates as you type — no submit button, no reload. That's the real power here: seeing how sensitive the output is to one or two assumptions.

What moves the number most

The result responds to Private Monthly Premium, Annual Public Contribution, and Horizon. Two inputs usually tip the answer one way or the other. Identify which ones matter most by flipping each value past a round threshold and watching whether the option with the lower calculated total changes.

The formula behind this

Totals the nominal cost of each stream. Ignores premium inflation and public contribution changes — use the current figure for both to keep the comparison clean. Everything the calculator does is shown in the formula box below, so you can check the math against your own spreadsheet if you want.

What the score tells you

Headline financial numbers — income, savings, debt — each tell part of the story. This calculation stitches several together into a single read you can track over time. The value is in the direction, not the absolute number.

What this doesn't capture

The score is a composite of the inputs you provide. Life context — job security, family obligations, health, housing — doesn't appear in the math but shapes the real picture. Use the number as a prompt, not a verdict.