Private Medical Insurance covers you for medical conditions that respond quickly to treatment and that ultimately gets you well again. Such conditions are classed as acute conditions.
“An acute condition is a disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to
treatment that aims to return you to the state of health you were in immediately before
suffering the disease, illness or injury, or that leads to your full recovery.”
Some conditions no matter how much treatment is given may never respond or keep coming back leaving you with a condition that may never be cured. These are classed as chronic conditions:
“A chronic condition is a disease, illness or injury that has one or more of the following
characteristics:
• Needs ongoing or long-term monitoring through consultations, examinations, check-ups or tests.
• It needs ongoing or long-term control or relief of symptoms.
• Requires your rehabilitation, or for you to be specially trained to cope with it.
• The condition continues indefinitely.
• There is no known cure.
• It comes back or is likely to come back.
How do insurers manage chronic conditions?
Insurers have pretty much the same approach to covering chronic conditions with some slight variables to the rule.
Most insurers would cover for an in-patient stay for a ‘flare up’ of a chronic condition. This is the unexpected complication or worsening of a chronic condition. You would be treated quickly to bring you back to a stable condition. The treatment and monitoring of the flare up would then stop. I’d state though that in the case of asthma (which is a chronic condition) a serious flare up requiring hospital treatment would be dealt with by the NHS as an emergency. Chronic conditions and the covering of flare ups privately would therefore depend on the scenario and the insurer’s agreement.
What about cancer treatments?
Cancer and heart conditions normally fall outside of this rule and you will be treated for as long as it takes by the insurers.
Private Medical Insurance will cover you for a huge range of medical conditions and includes a private consultant to diagnose your condition, take blood tests, x-rays; and MRI’s that all may lead to having hospital treatment with a private room.
As a broker we can help source the best policy and give best advice. So whether it be for you and your family, or a business and your staff and families, please call us for FREE independent advice and quotes.
0800 999 2205
Stefan – 07419 764 565
