What is Private Medical Insurance?
Private Medical Insurance enables you to cover the cost of private medical treatment when medical emergencies arise for you and your family. Like any other insurance policy, you pay a regular premium to be covered by the insurer. Your insurer will pay for medical treatment at private facilities for certain medical problems, dependent on the terms of your policy. The main advantage is the fact you can benefit from treatment in private clinics and hospitals when the need arises, without having to deal with huge medical bills.
As anyone who reads the newspapers knows, the NHS lacks funding, and the facilities and waiting times are often inadequate. There is a huge level of demand for NHS treatment, demand that the system often struggles to cope with. Having Private Medical Insurance allows you to access hospitals with higher quality facilities, and enables prompt treatment of certain medical conditions. You can quickly receive treatment that you would need to wait many months to receive on the NHS.
The better quality of facilities available at private hospitals attracts many people to private health insurance. You will be treated with advanced medical equipment, in a comfortable, clean environment. You will also be able to enjoy the privacy of an en-suite room, complete with satellite television. Often there is even wi-fi Internet access. NHS hospitals are infamous for their low quality meals, but private patients enjoy delicious food prepared to a high standard. Some of the better private hospitals offer facilities and comfort that is easily the equal to a fancy hotel, which is in stark contrast to the austere amenities often provided by NHS hospitals.
Some illnesses will not be covered by private health insurance policies, so it’s important to check carefully which conditions and treatments your policy covers. (see our article "What is usually covered by PMI?") There are many different types of policy available, each covering different medical eventualities, so you should do plenty of research to find the right policy for you and your family.
It’s also important to note that private healthcare cannot completely replace NHS healthcare. Certain NHS resources such as GP appointments and accident and emergency treatment are beyond the reach of the private system.
