What are my hospital options?
When you take out health insurance with us, you’ll choose which hospital option you want your cover to include. This helps decide which hospitals you can use for treatment. Some are designed to lower the cost of your health insurance, while others give you access to a wider range of hospitals.
Get to know Expert Select
The default hospital option with our health cover is Expert Select. It works best for customers who'd like us to help them navigate the hospital options available through their cover. It works differently to our other hospital lists:
- you'll choose from quality-assured facilities, generally within 25 miles of where you live
- your options depend on the type of treatment you need, so they could be different each time you make a claim
- you can't choose a specialist who isn't on our Expert Select list.
Our other hospital options
If Expert Select isn’t for you, then we have other hospital lists you can choose from.
Key hospital list
By choosing our Key hospital list, you’ll have access to private and NHS hospitals that are used the most by people with health insurance. If you choose an NHS facility for your treatment, we recommend checking they have a dedicated private patient unit available to you. Including some NHS pay-beds, there are around 800 hospitals on this list.
Extended hospital list
Our Extended hospital list has an increased number of hospitals, mostly in the Greater London area. If you choose this list, then the amount you pay for your cover will increase.
Trust hospital list
This list is one of the ways you can reduce your monthly premium. It offers NHS Trust and Partnership private facilities – these have dedicated private patient units, usually with a single room and en-suite bathroom. The hospitals available to you on this list are based on a catchment area, so it’s worth checking there’s a hospital within 30 miles of where you live.
Signature hospital list
Our Signature list is only available for customers living in Scotland or Northern Ireland. You’ll also be able to use NHS pay-beds that are recognised by us in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Important documents
You can read about all these options in more detail in our handy Hospital Options and Expert Select brochures.
Can I change my hospital options?
You can change your hospital option as your needs change. While it can’t be updated partway through your policy term, you’re free to choose a different option when it comes up for renewal.
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Health insurance FAQs
Can I access any hospital with my policy?
You can only use providers that we have approved – these will be on the hospital option you choose. We select hospitals available for treatment based on regulatory standards and quality of care. If you have treatment at a medical facility that isn't included on one of our hospital lists, we won't cover the cost of your treatment.
What if the hospital I want to use isn't on my list?
If you have treatment from a hospital that isn’t on your list, we won’t cover the fees.
We usually ask you to get an open referral from your GP or specialist, because that makes things easier when it comes to claiming, and finding a suitable hospital on your chosen list. Occasionally, there may be times when a GP or specialist provides a named referral – we will only accept this if there’s a medical need for it. We might request a report from the GP or specialist for more information before we confirm treatment under a named referral.
Will I get referred to a hospital that isn't on my hospital list?
We have a network of treatment facilities and specialists that are available on our Expert Select list. If you have a different hospital list, and you have a condition that can be treated under our network, then we may ask you to get an open referral from your GP. That means you could be able to benefit from our approved network, but it may be a hospital that isn’t on your list. If you don’t want to do this, you can still choose to have your treatment in a hospital on your list.
Learn about health insurance
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