Types of cover
Health insurance comes in various forms. With the majority of private medical insurance policies you have to pay a monthly premium and the policy subsequently pays out, up to set cover limits, for the treatment you require.
You can lower the cost of specific policies by showing that you lead a healthy lifestyle, by say going to the gym on a frequent basis.
You can also get health cash plans which contribute towards your standard healthcare costs. Health cash plans work by paying out a cash sum when you go for a visit to a dentist or other medical practitioner, like an optician or chiropodist; you can spend the cash as you wish.
What to look for
Medical insurance premium policies increase as you get older, however, there are some exceptions.
The majority of health policies charge an excess, the part of an insurance policy you have to pay yourself. Should you want more comprehensive cover and keep your costs relatively down, an option is to opt for a medical insurance policy which provides a wider range of benefits, enabling you to choose a higher excess. Of note is that should you select this option, you could pay for treatment for a lengthy period of time without reaching the excess level.
Prior to purchasing health care cover, it is vital that you know precisely what benefits it will pay out. Should you choose a very low cost plan, it is likely that it may just pay hospital admission costs, not out-patient costs. As 1 out of 5 by GPs leads to hospital admissions, policies that do not cover out-patient costs are going to less useful than those that do cover out-patients costs.
It is best to read all the small print on policies to pinpoint whether or not any specific illnesses and treatments are not covered by your health insurance policy.