Been thinking about with the idea of maybe getting some private health cover? Here’s a brief overview about buying private Health-Insurance/Underwriting-and-private-medical-insurance.aspx" title="medical insurance">medical insurance.

Why go private? Well, having private medical insurance means that you can be seen quicker for treatment and even choose you own specialist and hospital. Another of the benefits of going private is that you get more privacy with your own comfortable en suite room with a TV.

Choosing the right scheme for you will depend on the level of premium you are willing to pay to meet your needs. Premiums can vary from lost cost schemes with limited cover to more comprehensive schemes. When comparing medical insurance it’s good to get to grips with some of the treatment and attendance terminology. An in-patient is when you stay a night or more while receiving treatment or investigations. An out-patient is where you go in for treatment or tests but do not stay overnight. A day patient or sometimes referred to as ‘day care’ or ‘day case’ is when you go in for treatment or tests and do not stay overnight. The difference between out and day patients are that as an out-patient you are generally in hospital for a briefer time. Most policies will provide for in-patient and day-patient care, but not always out-patient.

Generally included in your cover will be: in-patient tests, surgery and hospital accommodation and nursing if required. Occasionally cover will stretch to things like out-patient tests, out-patient consultations with a specialist, overseas cover and cash payments for treatment received as an NHS in-patient.

Things that are usually not available are: treatment for pre-existing conditions, GP services, cover for long-term illnesses which cannot be cured or A&E services.

OK so you feel like you are ready to invest in some medical insurance what to do next. There are a host of companies offering private medical insurance so shop around. You will have to fill in an application form and when that is processed you will be sent your policy. Be sure to check you are happy with the policy. If not tell your insurers immediately if something is wrong or you are not happy about. Some policies will allow for a ‘cooling off’ period where you can change your mind and get a full refund within a defined period.