What's Not Covered in Private Medical Insurance?

It's important to be aware of what is not covered when you are investigating private medical insurance. People are often surprised, when they become ill or want to have a procedure done, that their provider does not cover their particular ailment.

Here is a list of specific things which general policies will not cover:

Pre-existing conditions
Long term or chronic conditions
HIV/AIDS related conditions
Pregnancy and childbirth
Infertility treatment
Routine medical check-ups
Surgical or medical appliances
GP charges
Alcoholism or alcohol abuse
Solvent abuse
Addictive conditions
Psychiatric or mental illness
Kidney dialysis
Out-patient drugs and dressings
Professional sports injuries
Experimental treatment
Treatments that have not been referred by a GP
Self-inflicted injury
Treatment required as a result of terrorism, criminal activity or war
Cosmetic treatments/surgery
Emergency treatment
Ambulance cover
Organ transplants
Treatment for obesity
Refractive eye surgery and optometry

Most policies exclude the above conditions however there are add-on packages which include levels of psychiatric cover and some companies provide some health cover for complications of pregnancy and childbirth after you have held a policy for a period of time with a health insurer.

Policies vary, for example, Bupa's Select Heart and Cancer Policy covers organ transplants.

What is important is to read policy documents to find out exactly what is and isn't covered when you compare health insurance policies.