When taking out a Health Insurance policy it is very important to be aware of the exclusions.  Especially regarding pre-existing medical conditions.
The levels of cover provided will vary greatly depending on individual policies in line with how much you are prepared to pay for them.

What is Health Insurance?
Health or medical insurance will cover your costs for private medical treatment for illnesses or injuries that are curable and short term – also known as ‘acute conditions’.

What does health insurance cover?
This is dependent on the product you choose; it’s up to you to select the level of cover that you require at a price you can afford.
Health insurance cover ranges greatly between policies some will offer a basic set of benefits up to the higher-priced end of the scale which gives more extensive treatment and help.
It is important when taking out a policy that you are fully aware of what you are covered for but more importantly what you are NOT covered for.  You will have the option to choose from inpatient only cover or inpatient and outpatient cover.

The In-patient policy would mean that you will be covered for any treatment that is provided when you are admitted into hospital for one or more nights.

Out-patient policy covers treatments that do not require you to be hospitalised.  These include diagnosis, investigations, consultations or day patient treatments. These will be included on more comprehensive policies but not on basic ones.

Factors affecting the cost of your premium.
When the underwriters calculate the insurance premium they take many factors into account to determine how much of a risk you pose:

• Your age plays a big factor in the premium as statistically older policy holders are more likely to make more claims.
• The price of the premium is always effected by the amount of excess* that you are prepared to pay.  Obviously the higher the excess the cheaper the insurance will be.
• The premium is always effected by the amount of out-patient cover you have.  So it is important to consider how much of a comprehensive policy you actually need and if an in-patient only policy would sufficiently meet your needs.

* It is important to note that with most policies the excess will only need to be paid once during the policy and all further claims will be paid in full.
No-excess policies are available which means that the insurance companies will cover the full cost of each and every claim, but these policies are subject to a much higher premium.

When taking out a Health Insurance application it can be done in one of two ways:
• Full medical underwriting which means it would be accepted on the basis of medical history declaration.  If a declaration is requested by the insurer, you will need to supply them with the full details of your medical history.  This could result in the insurer needing a medical report or doctor’s letter.

• Moratorium underwriting, means that rather than requesting your medical history they will exclude any pre-existing conditions.  This will usually be for any conditions that you have had in the past 5 years.  The moratorium underwriting is always quicker and more accepting of peoples’ conditions than the full medical underwriting option; but it will be more restricted on what it covers.

When making a claim it is important that you keep all Doctors receipts, prescriptions and any other documentation given to you as the claims departments will need to see this when assessing your claim.