How Much Choice do you Really get With Private Medical Insurance?

One of the main reasons that people site for opting for private health insurance is the broader choice of specialists and hospitals. With the NHS you can be restricted by what is offered within your local area but in the private sector is the world your oyster?

On closer investigation it appears that a totally open choice is not what is on offer. BUPA can offer you the largest choice of establishments with over 400 accredited hospitals on their list. Additionally, if you travel the world BUPA International has 5,500 participating hospitals. Up until recently BUPA owned 25 of their own hospitals. These have now been acquired by Spire Healthcare.

AXA, on the other hand has 250 hospitals on their list. If a hospital of your choice is not included in their Directory of Hospitals AXA will assess whether it is 'medically necessary' for you to attend this hospital but you will need to receive confirmation of their decision in writing before you proceed. As set out in the AXA Membership Handbook, if you go ahead and have treatment at a non-accredited hospital 'you will be entirely responsible for paying the hospital bills.' As with most of the basic policies, Greater London hospitals are not covered as their rates are prohibitive. This exclusion does not apply to the 14 major London hospitals which include Great Ormond Street, The Royal London and St Thomas' Hospital.

With Pru-Health the choice of hospitals varies with different levels of cover. There are three hospital packages: National which covers all private hospitals outside of London, London - which covers all private national hospitals and 23 London Hospitals and Premier which covers all private national, 23 London and an additional 3 Premier hospitals. On top of this, as with most private healthcare cover, every policy offers to pay for treatment an any NHS hospital that offers private wards or pay-bed facilities.

Standard Life also offers two London upgrades in addition to the Countrywide list of accredited hospitals. Where Standard Life stands out in terms of choice is in their Primecare Plus or Primecare Gold policies which cover Worldwide Travel which includes holiday as well as business travel. Pru-Health, for example, does not cover you for hospital visits when you are abroad.

With Freedom Healthnet you have an unrestricted choice of hospitals. This is because when you claim you will receive cash sum for inpatient treatment and you can choose exactly where and how you spend it. You could even use the NHS for your treatment and keep the cash for other needs.

So, on review, there is more choice when you look at what medical insurance companies can offer you compared to what is available on the NHS but there is still a restriction. Freedom Healthnet offers a solution to this restriction. On all their four levels of cover a cash payment is the outcome of any claim and this can be used in exactly the way that suits you.