What is private medical insurance?
Private medical insurance is designed to cover the costs of private medical treatment, for what are commonly known as ‘acute conditions’ that start after your policy begins.
Most insurers define an acute condition as a disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment and aims to return you to the state of health you were in immediately before suffering the disease, illness or injury, or which leads to your full recovery. Your insurer can tell you about their cover for this and other conditions, such as cancer and chronic (long-term) conditions.
Why buy private medical insurance?
Most people buy this type of insurance to:
- be reassured, knowing that treatment is available quickly if they become ill or are injured;
- have a choice about when treatment will take place, the specialist who treats them and the hospital; and
- have the privacy of an en-suite room with a TV and other home comforts.
