Personal Health Insurance
PMI and the different levels of cover

PMI stands for private medical insurance. The benefits of having private medical insurance are typically widely known and accepted. Having fast access to specialists, consultants and expert modern hospitals for treatment may be important in those non-critical cases where service through the NHS may be subject to some delays and waiting lists.

As with all insurance, what comes with your PMI will typically vary depending upon two factors:

• your requirements and the amount you wish to pay for the purchase of your health insurance policy;
  
• the provider you’re using as prices and options will, of course, vary.

Private medical health insurance – the principles

It is typically a very sound idea to check carefully what is or is not included in the private health insurance policy you’re considering as there may be important variations in terms, conditions and cover.

A standard personal or family private health insurance policy will typically provide a range of benefits as standard for what may be termed non-urgent and non-critical requirements. These may include:

• obtaining rapid appointments for consultations and diagnostic sessions with specialists;
  
• rapid access to treatment at specialist hospitals;
• access to some forms of health screening programmes and general fitness checks (these may be discounted).

PMI – The additional options and benefits

Some private health insurance policies or optional add-ons may also provide:

• treatment through some forms of complementary medicine;
  
• accommodation costs for parents with children needing treatment;
• options for insuring against some forms of future cancer treatments;
• convalescence and home care provisions;
• access to dental and optical care.

Typically many private health policies will exclude many forms of elective surgery or treatment (such as cosmetic surgery) but some policy add-ons may allow for some types of this treatment in certain circumstances.

There are also some providers of PMI cover that may offer you the flexibility of arranging for your own treatment. Once they have agreed your treatment, they pay a fixed sum of money into your bank account. You can then arrange treatment at a hospital of your choice and pay the bill afterwards yourself. More commonly used for inpatient procedures this feature may also be available for outpatient treatments.

PMI now comes in a large variety of policy formats that should mean it is typically able to meet many people’s needs, whether they’re individuals or a family.