Understanding Private Medical Insurance
PMI exists to cover the cost of medical treatment should the policyholder become ill. It is designed to pay for medical treatment to help cure short-term conditions. Generally it does not pay for chronic conditions. These are conditions which need ongoing treatment but cannot be cured.
In an emergency the NHS is still the best place to receive treatment and private health care does not try to replicate it. What PMI does do is offer an alternative to the NHS should the policyholder need non-emergency treatment such as a hip replacement, gall bladder removal or varicose vein removal. For such conditions there can be a long wait for NHS treatment, sometimes running into many months. The provision of prompt treatment is one of the key drivers for individual and companies purchasing PMI.
Instead of waiting to receive treatment on the NHS an individual could chose to self-fund private treatment, although the cost of this can be very high. Use the sections below to view some statistics relating to NHS treatment.
In return for a monthly or annual premium PMI will cover the cost of eligible private medical treatment (for eligible claims) should your client become ill, meaning they will not have to wait for NHS treatment and not have to spend large amounts of money to self-fund any treatment.
- NHS Waiting Lists
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- Hip Replacement - 189 days
- Removal of varicose veins - 145 days
- Wisdom tooth extraction - 166 days
- Examination of the bladder - 82 days
Figures are the UK National Average for consultation and procedure wait combined and are latest publicly available as of 1-Feb-08.
Source: www.personalhealthmanager.aviva.co.uk - Self-funding private treatment
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- Extraction of impacted wisdom tooth - £759 - £1,171
- Cardiac bypass - £4,772 - £21,253
- Removal of prostate - £3,312 - £7,401
- Total hip replacement - £5,557 - £9,743
Source: Aviva. January 2008.