Getting the correct Health Insurance Quotes

With the economic downturn still being a nuisance and unemployment still on the rise, stretching the NHS to its limits, not to mention swine flu, it is best advised to check for new health insurance quotes online if affordable. By doing it online, any good website will be able to give you a free no obligation quote within the five minutes it takes you to fill in your details.

Getting health insurance quotes used to be regarded as being a mine field, and can still be depending where you are asking and if you are not sure exactly what you want, or you don’t know what you can afford for your budget. Many of the top websites now have a five point step questionnaire to help you choose the health insurance cover that best suits your needs.

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Health Insurance in the Credit Crunch

With the economic situation posing financial problems for individuals and families all around the world, it is understandable that people have to prioritise where they should allocate their household budgets. Expenses such as food and energy costs are likely to be given more precedence than medical insurance. However, it is possible to reduce the costs of your monthly health insurance premiums, keeping access to private healthcare should you need it.

Despite the reccession more than seven-million people in the UK are covered by either personal or corporate private health insurance, and a further one million though heathcare trust agreements with employees. This is actually an increase of 2.7% on cover levels in 2007.


Is it worth switching insurers?

It is well worth reviewing your current insurance policy as if you've been with the same provider for many years you may be paying over the odds as policy conditions do change. Many people are wary of switching as, in the past, you may have had to start afresh and if you developed a new medical condition then you may not be able to get the same level of cover. It is now possible to get the same or more similar terms from many providers.


Get smart with you health insurance

It is highly possible that your private health insurance cover is more comprehensive than you require. You may be able to lower your premiums by taking certain risks with your policies. Another method that many would suggest to save on your premium would be to try to voluntarily pay excess on your premiums - the higher that you can manage to pay here could reduce your monthly outlay.


In summary, its most definitely the case that the credit crunch has altered our priorities somewhat, but it is still possible to have affordable health insurance cover by becoming more discerning about our policies.

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The history of Private Medical Insurance

US Origins

The concept of Private Medical Insurance can actually be traced back to mid 17th century England, but it wasn't until the 19th century that what was commonly referred to as 'accident insurance' was made formally available. In the USA Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1850 began to offer insurance against injuries arising from railroad and steamboat accidents. The company was so successful that by 1866 over 60 companies had (literally) 'jumped on the bandwagon' and began to offer similar services -however, this initial boom levelled out eventually.

NHS stimulates Private Healthcare in the UK

The growth of Private Medical Insurance in the UK was ushered in with the creation of the NHS in 1948. Although the service could provide a decent level of service free of charge there were still a significant number of people who were keen to ensure a higher level of healthcare. The industry began to grow concurrent to the NHS and by the late 1950s there were three major firms that dominated the industry - PPP (now AXA PPP healthcare) BUPA and the WPA.

As the population of the UK grew and the strain on the NHS increased, more people began to take out Private Health Insurance policies. Many companies also began to offer health cover as a part of their benefit packages to attract and retain the best employees. This twin growth factor has contributed to the growth of the sector into the huge industry that it has evolved into today. Since the 1960s the number of perople with Private Health Cover in the UK has approximately doubled every decade, and its estimated that around 7 million people in the UK have some form of health insurance cover.

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Five Top Health Links for April

There have been a number of interesting health stories on the web in April. Kind hearted souls that we are, we thought that we would post a few of post five of our favourites. Hopefully there will be something of interest to you.

• 25 things you probably didn't know about your body and health - Great fun article from MSN Health and Fitness. There are bound to be some facts on here that will amaze you - for example, did you know that Baking Soda can help whiten teeth?
• Drinking Hot tea linked to Cancer/Walnuts may help prevent it - we've had a couple of 'good food', 'bad food' stories over the past couple of weeks, these two were two of the more intriguing.
• USA Today: Young adults health worse than 10-15 years ago - worrying report on the poor state of health of the 50 million 18-29 year olds in America. Research from the National Centre of Health Statistics suggests that about one-third of this age group are obese, and 30% do not have health insurance. Would these statistics be relatively similar in the UK?
• An outgoing nature could help you live longer - On a lighter note is this inspirational post from Health.com stating that being open and outgoing can help to mange stress and increase life expectancy. Cheer up - its good for you!
• Bacon Sandwiches can help cure hangovers - Researchers from Newcastle University have claimed that eating a Bacon Sandwich after a night out can help by "boosting the level of amines - which clear the head". Elin Roberts told Marie Claire:

  ‘Food doesn't soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.‘Bread is high in carbohydrates and bacon is full of protein, which breaks down into amino acids. Your body needs these amino acids, so eating them will make you feel good.’

Thats five of our top April health links, if you have any stories that you have come across please leave a comment!

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Common Private Healthcare Questions

In these internet driven times there is no shortage of information around the topic of private medical insurance. However, there appears to still be a lack of clarity as to what health policies can actually cover you for. These are some of the questions that consistently come up.

What does a private healthcare policy cover?

Your healthcare policy pays for the treatment of any illnesses or injuries that are more than likely to respond to medical treatment. These are often described as acute conditions (anything from an asthma attack to a broken leg).

Will i be able to pay for Private Health Cover?

The large insurance companies offer a diverse range of policies to suit most budgets. If you take out a comprehensive cover package, this will provide help outside accident and emergency situtaions. - whereas budget plans won't cover you for externalities such as physiotherapy. There may also be options for affordable health insurance - you can lower premiums through altering payment methods etc.

Are any existing or long-term (chronic) health conditions covered when i take out a policy?

The answer to this is in most cases, no. Longer term conditions that need ongoing monitoring through regular medical examinations and check-ups, have no known cure or are likely to repeat are not covered - as mentioned previously Acute Conditions that respond to treatment are what is covered.

In the UK, can i still utilise the National Health Service in an emergency?

Yes, you can. The NHS is best placed to deal with accidents and emergency situations.

Will the insurance company insist on a medical?

No, health insurers will not insist a medical pre-policy. What will happen is that you will be asked to provide details of your history of medical care - or - you will enter what is known as a moritorium period for two years - after this policy time it may be possible to get cover for prior conditions.

Short and sweet we know, but hopefully that has cleared some issues up for you.

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Better with small business health insurance

When there was a survey of 1000 people regarding waiting times for the NHS it was pretty evident that the British public under estimate the waiting times for operations on the NHS, The poll revealed that the majority would expect a 5 months wait for most operations when it is actually closer to 11 months per op.

Although there is surprise at these health care waiting times there was even more surprise that these waiting times are getting better from previous NHS generations and thanks to government initiatives to reduce times they are getting better overall.

With the highly competitive private health insurance industry now being more affordable and accessible to the public - it would always be recommendable to join one of these company's and we are finding more and more people are opting to do so.

When a separate survey was done we also discovered that more and more company's are offering Small Business health insurance to there employees to the delight of everyone involved in health care as it gives there workers better and more affordable treatment and also takes the wait off the NHS so it can continue to get better treatment to our county's disadvantaged patients.

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