What Should You Look For in Health Insurance?

There are many variables the PMI (private health insurance), some of which can often be seen as a minefield of decisions and plan types. Here are some important facts that could help through some difficult areas.

It is worth checking what level of coverage you get on a low-cost plans. Often, the most basic types of plans only cover you for hospital treatment, and place limits on the amount of the ambulance used to have. Although you may save on your monthly premiums, if you end up having to pay for outpatient treatment themselves - for example, meeting with the consultant - it could end up more expensive when the balance of the premium savings vs out-of-pocket expenses are incurred.

Make sure that the hospital network you choose is relevant to where you live and work. Different areas of the country (especially London) can be more expensive than others, so make sure you only pay for coverage you will use. It is worth investigating in relation to exceptional circumstances, like having a condition that can be treated in a hospital outside the selected network, then some providers will actually pay for treatment is performed in a hospital outside of your network anyway.

Some health insurance companies reward healthy living, giving its members a no-claims bonuses and discounts healthy living. Worth looking into who offers them and how they can help to control and reduce your premiums in the coming years.

Most insurers make a big play on the quality of their cancer cover. Many say they offer "full cover", but it's worth checking the details behind this. For some, a lot of cover means cover every stage of the disease, whether it be a short-term chemotherapy, or even long-term medication and palliative care should become the terminal. However, other providers may set limits on the length of time you can receive treatment and may stop paying after a specified period of time - for example, 2 years

.

It seems that there is much uncertainty among users of PMI with regard to their pre-existing conditions that are covered if they switch providers. Each provider will generally have their own rules about this, but some just ask questions 5 years back in his medical history. Just because you made ​​a recent claim, this does not mean they will automatically be excluded on the new policy.

Of course, there is much to consider when you are looking for, but it pays to know the facts before making any decisions.