Private health insurance: guide to choose

Waiting lists to see a specialist has never been very agile in public health, and they continue to increase. If you have suffered this situation, you will know the frustration of being sick and having to wait for months to see a specialist doctor and then wait again for the tests that they send you and again to see the doctor again.

Private health insurance is positioning itself, with increasing strength, as an affordable option for many people. They guarantee medical, hospital, and surgical assistance without long waiting lists, and the speed and agility of their medical and hospital services are the main reason for hiring them. In Spain, private healthcare has gained much ground in recent years despite being optional and voluntary.

And you, do you consider taking out health insurance? Have you started to investigate which one is best for you? At Pri-Med Health Insurance, we have created this guide on private health insurance so that you know how they differ and what you should consider when choosing your private health insurance.

Private health insurance and private healthcare

Private health insurance is a contract signed between a citizen and an insurance company. In exchange for a series of payments or premiums, the insured receives the type of health care that he has chosen in the policy when contracting it.

One of the reasons for its existence is the need to offer better health care that fills the gap that public health care sometimes leaves. For this reason, insurers often offer services that cannot be found in public health or have deficiencies.

To ensure the best care, health insurance companies have clinics, laboratories, and care centers. Policyholders thus avoid long queues and receive the results of their analysis or tests much more quickly. However, unlike in public health, the patient can only go to health institutions that have an agreement with the company that insures them.

Advantages of private health insurance

20% of emergencies and 30% of surgical activities are performed in private institutions. This helps reduce the national health system’s waiting lists and represents a clear advantage for the insured. Other benefits of private health insurance compared to public health are:

• To be able to access specialists, it is not necessary to go to your GP first.
• It is possible to choose the hospital we want to attend and the doctor who will treat us.
• Access to alternative treatments and new techniques is often associated with private medicine.
• More significant benefits for companions, in case of hospital admission.

Types of private health insurance

There are many types of private health insurance, depending on the coverage included and the premium payment method. They can be divided into medical plans without copayments, medical plans with copayments, medical plans with reimbursement, the medical product with hospitalization, and dental insurance.

Medical list without copays

They are those insurances for which you pay a single premium and can go to the doctor’s office as often as you want without additional payments per visit. With the medical list without copays, you can choose between all the medical centers and hospitals with agreements with the insurer which are part of your medical list.

Medical list with copays

These policies allow the insured to go to the centers that are part of the medical chart of their insurer, but in addition to the annual premium, a price is paid for each visit or consultation. These amounts vary depending on the product and are billed in the following private health insurance payment.

The advantage of insurance with copays is that your premium is usually low and the amount contributed for each consultation is not equivalent to its accurate price, if not a minimum part.