My employer provides 'free' healthcare for me, my wife, and two kids. I can opt out of this healthcare scheme and receive about £100 per month instead.

Are healthcare schemes worth it when the NHS already provides an excellent service?

You should check to see if this health care covers you and your family when you are on holiday abroad. If it does, then it might be worth keeping.

Remember also that these schemes often mean that you don't get stuck in an endless waiting list for a non-emergency operation.

You really need to read the t&cs very carefully and if necessary ask a few questions to know exactly what cover you have and then I suggest try and compare it with a private scheme you would have to pay for. Here you may find you simply can't get the equivalent cover as company schemes used to and may still be better than private schemes will offer. For example a friend of mine got the ok for a 28 day drying out treatment in the heart of London from her husband's company scheme which at the time no private insurance would do.

Once you know the cost of the private scheme and have compared it as far as possible with £100 per month + perhaps assume that the £100 cash get out is not worth as much as the scheme - let's say that's £150 - ask yourself if the NHS provides such an "excellent service" why does your company pay £1800 a year in premiums for you. It's all done on statistics collected not a finger in the air as this is an increasingly competitive area.

And finally what happens if the kids get really uncomfortable painful something or others which will pass eventually but could be dealt with now on your company insurance if you still had it?