Behind the Scenes – How Your Risk is Calculated

Quotes for private health insurance are so easy and simple to get these days. Fill in a quick form on the internet and a figure is sent back to you almost instantly. But have you ever wondered how private medical insurance companies arrive at a certain sum?

How much you pay for private health cover depends on risk factors. These obviously vary from person to person and result in a very personalised quote for every individual. Age is the main variant which affects the cost of your private health insurance policy. When a person is younger they are less likely to suffer from serious illnesses or need time in hospital for a procedure like a hip replacement, meaning that their premiums are much lower. This is the best time to take out medical insurance, because not only will you be paying less, but there is also the possibility that having had access to the sort of provision of care that creates more peace of mind, and that often has shorter waiting lists and more choice, may have reduced some of the risks you could otherwise have been exposed to.

Age is not the only risk factor. Your quote will also be based upon gender, occupational status and whether or not you smoke. Men and women differ in the types of conditions they are prone to and this is reflected in the price of your policy. Some areas of work are also more likely to cause injury than others, for example, manual labour occupations would pose more of a danger than a secretarial position. The area of the UK in which you live can also provide variance on your health insurance quote because of issues such as the size of the local population, the waiting times at your nearby NHS facilities, the ratio of people to NHS services and the cost of private healthcare in your area.

The government has announced that personal care plans are to be made part of routine primary health care on the NHS. GPs have not welcomed this news warmly, claiming that it will just be another pressure for already overstretched doctors. The news comes as ministers have given further details of reforms of basic health services this week, and means that all patients with a chronic condition will have an individually designed health care plan by the end of 2010. Patients, including those with a mental health condition, will be able to decide what treatment and services they will have access to, with the advice of their GP, carer and other NHS staff.

It’s all in an attempt to increase patient choice to ensure that people are getting the best treatments to suit their individual needs, and although doctors agree that the service is a beneficial step, they have raised their concerns about the amount of extra time they will have to commit. Wigan GP and president of the Primary Care Rheumatology Society, Dr Adam Bajkowski told ‘Pulse’, “We just don’t have the facilities to easily call these patients up and there is no agreed plan about what we should be doing with these patients anyway. These plans are not in the real world and come from someone who has never worked as a GP."

With even more pressure on GPs, it may be likely that even more people will be getting a quote for private medical insurance to ensure the choice that is not necessarily guaranteed by the NHS. Cash plan policies, like those offered by Freedom Healthnet, give patients the option of whether to receive their treatment in a private hospital with good quality and efficient services, or in a NHS facility if they wish. Policy holders also have the choice to travel abroad and will get a lump cash sum to help towards the cost of their care.