Health insurance
You could get medical treatment by taking out private health insurance. Compare insurers that could offer in-patient treatment, a health advice helpline and a no claims discount.
Health insurance
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Last updated: 24 February 2021
What is health insurance?
Having health insurance means that some – or all – of the cost of private healthcare treatment will be covered if you’re ill or injured. Without medical insurance, private healthcare can be costly.
Even though the NHS offers free healthcare, many people still like to have health insurance, UK wide. That’s because private healthcare comes with added benefits, such as faster treatment.
As with any kind of insurance, private healthcare insurance comes at a price. You’ll have to pay monthly or annual premiums. But a private health insurance policy could work out cheaper than paying for the treatment outright. Of course, this does depend on what healthcare treatment you end up needing to have.
You can either get single policy health insurance which is just for you, or you can get a joint or family policy to cover your loved ones too.
Some employers even offer private health care plans as a staff perk.
The benefits of private health care insurance
Private health care insurance comes with lots of health benefits.
Examples of these include:
You can bypass long NHS waiting lists, so you’ll be seen and treated faster
You’ll have more treatment options, including treatments or drugs that aren’t available on the NHS
You could be treated in a private hospital with your own room, in a more comfortable setting with amenities such as a TV and your own en-suite bathroom
You’re free to choose your doctor and hospital, giving you more control
You have more peace of mind about your health plan if you fell ill.
The downside to this is that private health care insurance is that the benefits aren’t guaranteed. Remember that even a private hospital can be too full to treat people, or can have a longer waiting list than you’d like.
Types of health insurance
Compare health insurance and get plenty of health insurance quotes before you make any decisions on which to choose. The first step is to pick which kind of health care insurance suits you best.
There are four types of insurance for private healthcare. They’re all suitable for different people. The types of private health care policies available are:
Individual health insurance – a personal insurance which covers just one person’s medical needs
Family health insurance – for you, your partner and children
Joint health insurance – covers two people, usually you and your partner
Children’s health insurance – children can have their own health insurance plan, or they can be added to your medical insurance policy.
If you’re over 50, you might find that the best health insurance, UK wide, for you, is one designed specifically for your age. Take a look at private medical insurance policies for your age group.
What does a private health insurance policy cover you for?
Your private health insurance covers you for private healthcare treatment as an inpatient or outpatient. This means you could be covered for:
staying overnight in a hospital bed, for example for surgery as an outpatient
consultations or diagnosis appointments as a day patient (where you don’t need an overnight stay)
any other regular appointments where you don’t need to stay in a hospital overnight.
Think about what you want your private health insurance to cover. This could be illnesses, symptoms, injuries, and treatments. The more illnesses and injuries you choose to cover yourself for, the more your health insurance will cost.
The best private health insurance, will cover you for a vast array of illnesses and injuries.
If you want to cover serious illnesses like cancer, your private health care is likely to cost more.
The price would also go up if you wanted to cover pre-existing conditions too, such as asthma or physiotherapy. Most health insurance policies don’t automatically cover you if you have a flare up of a pre-existing condition. So this would be an added extra.
What does health care insurance not cover?
Most private health insurance, doesn’t cover you for:
long-term conditions
emergencies
treatment you choose to have but don’t necessarily need, such as cosmetic treatment
organ transplants
drug abuse
alcohol abuse
self-inflicted injuries
treatment abroad
mobility aids
injuries from taking part in high-risk sports
pregnancy care.
Health care insurance is usually for severe, curable and short-term conditions.
There are sometimes ‘extras’ that you can add on to your health insurance policy, which aren’t automatically included. For example:
dentistry
eyecare
physiotherapy
mental health.
How does medical insurance work?
Private medical insurance, UK wide, works like any other insurance policy.
You pay for it monthly or yearly and make a claim when you need to. If you need to make a claim, your private medical insurance provider will pay out for some or all of your private healthcare.
Some health insurance companies place a limit on how many individual claims you can make each year. There could also be limits on how many conditions and treatment types you can claim for.
Remember, you can still get free NHS treatment even if you have private health insurance. Private healthcare is designed to work alongside the NHS.
Read more about how health insurance works here.
How to find the best private medical insurance in the UK
The best private health insurance, UK wide, is known as comprehensive insurance. It’s considered the best private health insurance because it covers a wider range of treatments and conditions. But it’s not always the cheapest option.
There are three types of insurance for private health care:
Basic – usually pays for inpatient treatments and stays
Medium – usually covers outpatient care as well
Comprehensive – includes all-of-the above, plus cover for extra treatments such as physiotherapy.
Some medical insurance policies let you pick what to cover. They base the price around your choices.
After you’ve decided what you want, you can compare health insurance policies using our health insurance comparison.
Doing a health insurance comparison makes getting health insurance quotes easy. Check the following features to help you make a decision:
the level of cover
the cost
the excess charge
claim limits.
It's also good to know if there's a delay between buying the health insurance policy and making your first claim.
How much is private health care insurance?
Private health care costs vary. That’s because the cost of your medical insurance, is affected by many factors. These factors include:
your age – the price might increase with every birthday
your medical history – your insurer will want to know about pre-existing conditions
your family medical history – as this may be relevant to your own health
where you live – London is more expensive than other areas of the UK
your lifestyle – your insurer will want to know about your habits, such as whether you drink, smoke or exercise
what you want to be covered for – you’ll need to decide how much cover you want.
With private healthcare insurance, there are two costs to think about. The first is the cost of your health insurance policy and the second is your excess. When you make a medical insurance claim, you usually have to pay a ‘voluntary excess’ charge to make a claim.
Of course, you want the best private health insurance so you can access the private medical care you want. But it’s important to find a policy you can afford.
How can you reduce the cost of your private healthcare
It’s important to compare health insurance, to find the best health insurance at an affordable best price.
But if you need to lower the cost of your healthcare insurance, there are several things that might help. These include:
agreeing to pay a higher excess when you make a claim
choosing to have NHS treatment if waiting times allow (you’ll get a discount on future policies if you haven’t made a claim)
proving to your private medical insurer that you live a healthy lifestyle – for example, by going to the gym
reducing the number of hospitals you have access to
reducing the level of cover you have
co-paying on claims, which is when you split the cost of treatment with your insurer
paying annually rather than monthly.
Dental insurance
UK health insurance providers might also offer private dental insurance as an additional extra. If you are unable to use an NHS dentist, a dental plan can cover the cost of routine consultations and emergency procedures. You will usually have to pay the dentist first, then claim the money back through your dental insurance plan. Some cosmetic procedures, such as teeth whitening, will not be covered by dental insurance. UK dental costs can quickly add up, so a private dental insurance plan could potentially save you money.
It is worth considering that best dental insurance can be more valuable depending on where you live. The costs of dental treatment can vary wildly across the country, so private dental insurance may be the best option for you if your preferred dentist is particularly expensive.
It is also important to remember that unlike standard hospital treatment or medical appointments, NHS dental procedures and consultations still cost money for most people. If you usually pay for dental treatment, whether through the NHS or a private dental insurance plan, it is worth weighing up your existing costs against buying a dental insurance plan.
How can I get private dental insurance?
The options on this page are health insurance products. Dental insurance may be available as an additional extra with these plans.
Make sure to read your policy paperwork carefully to understand exactly what procedures and treatments your dental insurance plan can cover.
The UK’s most googled health queries 2020-2021
The global coronavirus pandemic has drawn more attention to our health and wellbeing than ever before. Post-pandemic, this could lead to greater demand for health insurance, as people look for peace of mind that their healthcare needs are covered.
With the healthcare landscape changed by the pandemic, many of us have turned to the web over the past year to find the advice we’re looking for. But what are we asking?
New research by money.co.uk has revealed the health questions Brits have googled most often between January 2020 and February 2021.
The impact of coronavirus
You can’t ignore the impact of the pandemic on demand for healthcare. Between March 2020 and February 2021, there were 100 million more visitors to the NHS site than there was between March 2019 and February 2020. Of these, 59.5 million were to coronavirus-related pages.
Whether as an alternative to in-person services or a result of growing awareness of our health, an extra 41.1 million people looked up general health queries in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20.
The five most common coronavirus-related queries are:
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
What is coronavirus?
When to self isolate
What is a continuous cough?
How to self isolate
The most common health questions outside of coronavirus
Coronavirus has dominated health headlines, but what other queries have we been researching?
The 10 most common health questions January 2020-February 2021
Mental Health:
Since January 2020, mental health, weight loss and blood pressure are three of the most popular topics Brits have been looking for advice on. The top five queries for each can be found below:
How to deal with anxiety
According to official advice*, talking about your feelings with a friend, family member, health professional or counsellor can help you deal with anxiety. Calming breathing exercises, a healthy diet, getting enough sleep and taking regular exercise may also be beneficial.
Weight:
How to lose weight
Official advice* is to make realistic, long-term changes to your diet and physical activity to lose weight steadily until you reach a healthy body mass index (BMI). Eating less and exercising more is recommended over fad diets, which can be difficult to maintain over time.
Blood Pressure:
What is normal blood pressure?
Blood pressure measures the force your heart pumps blood around your body in millimetres of mercury (mmHg). According to the NHS*, ideal blood pressure is considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg.
High blood pressure is 140/90mmHg or higher and low blood pressure is classed as 90/60mmHg or lower.
The most searched conditions
Since January 2020, the 10 most looked up conditions in the UK are:
The NHS provides comprehensive medical treatment, but you can still decide to take up private health insurance. Compare health insurance to find the best policy for you, and read our health insurance guides to find out all the information you need to know.
*You should always seek the help of a healthcare professional for medical advice.
About The Data
Ahrefs was used to collect monthly estimated traffic to www.nhs.uk. For each month, we collected the 50 most popular conditions pages and 50 health queries that drive the most traffic to the site. We excluded coronavirus results.
Where similar queries featured in the top 10, we omitted the lesser searched result to avoid duplication.
Health insurance FAQs
Some policies can include them, but many do not pay out for them. Here is how cover for pre-existing conditions works.
Some policies make you fill out a declaration about your health, and some may need to run medical tests. But moratorium policies do not do this.
Yes, some policies could charge you more if you have existing conditions. Others only charge you more if you need to cover treatment for them.
Most companies give you a choice of several medical facilities when you are referred for treatment.
Yes, you can get free treatment on the NHS or use your policy to pay for private treatment.
No, most of these policies only cover treatment in the UK, but you could get medical cover from your travel insurance if you go abroad.
Yes, you could get separate policies for everyone or a single family healthcare policy.
Yes, but some providers do not cover treatment for any conditions that are related to your disability.
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