Does Private Medical Health Care Cater For Mental Health?

Mental health is an area which is still underfunded and poorly researched in comparison to other areas of medicine. The move which began in the 80's towards 'care in the community' has been criticised by many mental health professionals. Mental health care for the elderly has been particularly lambasted. A problem which faces the elderly in particular is dementia and the UK government are taking measures to address this problem. Later this month they will reveal a national dementia strategy. The precursor to this was the announcement last month, by care services minister Phil Hope, that 'memory clinics' that support those with dementia will appear in every town in the UK.

The idea of 'memory clinics' has been welcomed by many health professionals. However, there are reservations. Graham Stokes, a consultant on the expert advisory committee and head of mental health at private health insurance company BUPA said that we need to know more about the 'meat on the bones' of the full plan for memory services. But what alternative can be offered by private medical insurance in terms of mental health care?

As with all health concerns private medical health insurance will not cover you for any pre-existing condition. So if you are already suffering from a mental health condition you will not be able to get a policy which covers you for your treatment. Mental health issues are often long term which then creates problems too for medical health insurance as policies will tend to cover only 'acute' conditions.
Putting this to one side however, if you have a mental health problem but are not looking for medical insurance to cover it you should be able to get health insurance, right? According to MIND they receive many 'calls and letters from people who have, or have had mental health problems and cannot get insurance cover. Many people find that when they inform some insurance companies about previous or existing mental health problems, they are either refused cover or asked to pay an increased premium.'

Under the Disibility Discrimination Act 19995 it is illegal to unjustifiably provide goods and servies to a disabled person (including those with mental health issues) differently to those given to other people. According to MIND however not many cases of discrimination are ever taken to court. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have produced guidelines which require that a person must show that a disabled person must have a higher risk before their premiums can be increased or there cover declined. This desicion must be based on objective evidence and not just the fact that a person has mental health issues.

Dementia which is a long term, chronic condition is not covered under private medical insurance policies so it is important that the new NHS plans for dementia care a effective. We will all be watching with interest.