Personal Health Insurance
Insurance for cancer

There are a number of private medical insurance (PMI) providers who provide medical insurance for cancer. Some of these may provide cover as a specific standalone policy for cancer treatment. Others may provide this type of insurance as part of a general private medical insurance (PMI) package. The level of cover provided by these various products can vary widely, with some PMI providers not offering cancer cover at all.

Where providers have specific policies for cancer treatment only, these may range from a full treatment package, to cover only for the drugs that are licensed in the UK but which may not be typically available from the NHS.

These drug only policies may be used to top-up the cover provided by the NHS and may be needed because the treatment you receive as a cancer patient within the NHS will typically depend in part on where you live. Different health authorities have different methods and different lists of approved drugs available on prescription.

So if you are thinking about buying insurance for cancer either as part of a general private medical insurance package but particularly as a standalone policy, then a good starting point may be to find out where your own health authority or Primary Care Trust stands on the provision of drugs.

Then you may have to have a look at some of the PMI and cancer cover policies available to find the ones closest to your needs.

Other factors which may vary from PMI policy to PMI policy but which may have a significant impact on cancer care and so be worthy of attention are:

• what kind of hospice and hospital care is covered;
  
• what type of investigations and screening are provided pre and post diagnosis;
  
• whether all drugs are provided for treatment and thereafter to keep the cancer at bay;
• if the situation is terminal, are maintenance drugs and palliative care covered;
• is preventative surgery covered;
• is home nursing included;
• are trial or experimental drugs accepted.
  

There are typically many things to think about and taking care to make informed decisions relating to the right mix of medical insurance cover for you may be advisable, particularly if you are concerned about cancer and are considering opting for some insurance for cancer as well.