The best health insurance plans are often categorised as comprehensive policies. These plans contain a much greater level of coverage than the most basic type of policy. There is usually full cover for outpatient treatment and a whole host of additional benefits, including physiotherapy and alternative medicines. We broker 15 comprehensive plans from ten of the UK’s leading health insurers, including Bup, Aviva, Axa PPP Healthcare and Pru Health.
Key features
- All health insurance plans cover treatments that require an overnight stay in hospital.
- Top plans will also provide full cover for treatments that do not require an overnight stay in hospital.
- The best policies will also include a number of additional benefits, such as physiotherapy, home nursing, dental surgery and alternative medicines.
Selecting the best health insurance policy
It is often the case that the best private health insurance policy for one person is very different to that of another. There are generally two ways of selecting a plan, which are discussed below.
Set a budget
The first method is to specify a budget and then select a policy with the most coverage within that budget. This method is best for people who just want a comprehensive plan with good coverage and are not too concerned about which specific individual benefits are provided.
Among the top plans the main variation is with regard to the additional benefits provided rather than the core benefits of consultations, tests, scans and treatments (as an inpatient or outpatient). All comprehensive plans cover the full cost of treatments that require hospital attention, whether you have to stay overnight or just have to go in for a few hours.
We have created a sister site dedicated private medical insurance providing a wide range of information on the health insurance market from the best individual health insurance plan for a professional to the things a parent should look out for when considering family private medical insurance.
Choose your additional benefits
An alternative to simply selecting the best health insurance policy that is within your budget is to pick and choose the additional benefits covered. After reviewing the options available it is possible to specify benefits of particular interest and then a suitable policy can be chosen based on your requirements.
For example, a keen sports person may like a policy with the best physiotherapy cover. On the other hand, senior citizens may prefer the comfort of a private ambulance service as they are less mobile than once were. Individuals who frequently travel abroad for business or to visit family members may prefer a policy that includes overseas health cover.
Policy options
The two main types of health insurance coverage consists of inpatient cover (condition requires an overnight stay in hospital) and outpatient cover (condition does not require an overnight stay in hospital). Basic plans will usually be limited to inpatient consultations, treatments, tests and scans whereas the best policies will provide full cover for both inpatient and outpatient medical attention. For example, radiotherapy and chemotherapy would be covered in full respective of whether you need an overnight stay in hospital.
In addition to increased outpatient cover the best health insurance plans also provide advanced coverage for additional treatments and services. The main additional benefits to consider include:
- Physiotherapy: The best plans will usually cover 10 to 12 sessions with a physiotherapist per year, although a small number of policies are without a session limit. Physiotherapy is a particularly useful form of treatment for sports injuries, back pain and arthritis.
- Psychiatric treatment: Although most health insurance policies do not cover psychiatric disorders there are a small number of plans that will provide up to 100 days of care per year and full cover for outpatient consultations with a psychiatrist.
- Alternative medicines: This type of cover consists of osteopathy and homeopathy. Private health insurance policies that are strong in this area will provide cover of £500 to £1,000 per year. There are a small number of policies that will provide cover in full.
- Private ambulance: The majority of comprehensive plans will provide access to a private ambulance service, with some policies offering full cover and others only providing a limited amount cover.
- Overseas cover: A very limited number of health insurance plans provide cover for emergency treatment abroad. However, the policies that do include overseas treatment will usually cover the costs in full.
- Dental surgery: This type of cover is for oral surgical operations, possibly following some kind of trauma for example. It is very mixed whether dental surgery will be included or not, with half of comprehensive plans providing cover in full and the other half providing no cover at all.
- Home nursing: Following inpatient treatment you may be entitled to the services of a qualified nurse on a daily or residential basis. The best health plans will usually provide cover in full although some policies do impose a cap.
- Hospital list: Most policies cover a range of national private hospitals. It is possible to take out a plan that also includes treatment top London hospitals.
Some of the options listed above may be of more importance to you than others. In this case we can filter down a policy that meets your requirements. If all of these benefits seem appealing then it is possible to broker a policy that includes an amount of coverage for all of them. Naturally, plans that provide all these benefits either command a higher premium or contain cover with certain limits per policy year.
Next steps
When it comes to finding the best health insurance plans for you we are here to help. If you would like the best cover for your budget then we can put together some policy options from competing insurers for you to consider. Should you be a business owner take a look at our business insurance site to ensure you find the best group health insurance.
If you would definitely like to include some of the additional benefits listed above then let us know and we will identify some suitable plans for you to choose from. We consider the plans offered by over ten of the UK’s best health insurance companies so we should be able to find a plan that fits your needs.
