What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is a type of insurance used to pay for the cost of receiving private medical treatment. This may take place in either NHS or private hospitals and clinics and is normally restricted to treatment for acute (curable) conditions only.

Although usage of private medical insurance (PMI) in the UK is quite small - estimated at around 10% of the population - it is growing. One increasingly popular use of health insurance is for so-called 'top-up care' - purchasing additional or faster treatment to complement what is provided by the NHS.

Health insurance does not generally include GP care. Private healthcare usually becomes available at some point after your GP has referred you to a consultant or hospital treatment. Exactly what is included in your health insurance policy will depend on your healthcare provider and the type of policy you have chosen.

Most health insurance policies include in-patient treatment but not all include day-patient and outpatient care. Choosing to include or exclude these will affect your policy premium - more cover usually means more cost, as you would expect.

When applying for health insurance, you normally have to provide fairly detailed information about your medical history and about existing conditions. You should also expect your premium to increase with age, as the risk of health problems increases.

To learn more about the choices you might have to make when arranging health insurance, visit our What's Covered? page.