How private health insurance works, what it covers, and what affects the price.
What does private health insurance cover? — Private health insurance pays for eligible private treatment of new conditions that begin after your policy starts. Most policies cover diagnostic tests, specialist consultations and inpatient treatment; many exclude chronic conditions, pre-existing conditions, accident and emergency care, and routine pregnancy. Cover, limits and excesses vary by insurer, so the policy wording decides what is paid.
How does medical underwriting work? — Medical underwriting is how an insurer decides which of your past health problems it will cover. The two common approaches are moratorium underwriting, which automatically excludes recent conditions for a set period, and full medical underwriting, where you declare your history upfront and the insurer lists exclusions before you buy.