Health insurance plan is a term that is often used to describe a health insurance policy and the benefits that are included within the policy.

Depending on the type of cover an individual chooses, a health insurance plan can help by:

• providing cash back against the cost of a range of medical treatments and everyday health benefits
• allowing the individual to seek treatment earlier
• allowing the individual to avoid NHS waiting lists by covering private treatment
• providing added peace of mind

If you are looking for a health insurance plan there are a number of points to consider:

• What do you want the health insurance plan to cover – serious medical conditions or provide money towards everyday health costs?
• How often are you likely to make a claim – rarely, if ever, or on a regular basis?
• Do you have any pre-existing conditions?
• Do you want the policy to cover yourself or are you looking for family health insurance?

Types of health insurance plan

Health insurance plans generally fall into two categories private medical insurance (PMI) and health care cash plans.

PMI is designed to cover more serious conditions. The majority of PMI policies are rated, this means that the price an individual pays is determined by a number of factors such as age, sex, location, previous medical history and claims history.

Health care cash plans cover everyday health care costs and are generally not rated. They are designed to be used, if an individual is not likely to claim on a regular basis then a health care cash plan may not be the most suitable form of health insurance plan.

With both PMI and health care cash plans it is important to consider any pre-existing medical conditions as these may be excluded from the health insurance plan.