Chronic conditions explained.
What a chronic condition is, how it differs from an acute condition, and what UK private medical insurance generally covers for long-term conditions.
Acute and chronic conditions
Understanding acute and chronic conditions
Private medical insurance treats acute and chronic conditions differently, so it helps to understand the difference.
Acute
An acute condition
Comes on suddenly and unexpectedly, and tends to respond quickly to a short period of treatment, leading to a full recovery. Private medical insurance is generally designed for acute conditions.
Chronic
A chronic condition
A persistent, long-lasting condition that generally cannot be cured, only kept under control through ongoing treatment or monitoring.
Insurers commonly describe a chronic condition as a disease, illness or injury with one or more of these characteristics:
- It is persistent and long-lasting in its effects.
- It needs ongoing or long-term treatment to control or relieve the symptoms.
- It needs rehabilitation, or for the person to be specially trained to cope with it.
- It continues indefinitely.
- It has no known cure.
- It comes back, or is likely to come back.
- It needs ongoing or long-term monitoring through consultations, examinations, check-ups or tests.
Common examples include asthma, diabetes, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and epilepsy. These conditions are usually kept under control with medication, diet or changes to lifestyle.
How private medical insurance treats chronic conditions
Treatment, not long-term management
Most UK private medical insurance does not cover the ongoing management of chronic conditions. Policies differ, but the general approach is:
Often included, subject to the policy
- Investigating new symptomsA consultation with a specialist and the diagnostic tests needed to find the cause of new symptoms.
- Initial treatmentTreatment to bring a condition under control and relieve the initial symptoms.
- Short-term treatment of a flare-upOn some policies, short-term treatment when a well-controlled condition suddenly and unexpectedly worsens.
Generally not included
- Routine monitoringCheck-ups, consultations and tests to keep track of a condition once it is stable.
- Long-term medicationMedication taken to keep a chronic condition under control.
- Ongoing managementContinuing care for a condition that cannot be cured, which usually takes place through the NHS.
If a condition becomes chronic
Cover can change over time
A condition that develops after your cover starts may initially be covered but later be considered chronic. This can happen long after your policy begins.
When a condition is considered chronic, policies generally stop covering its ongoing management. Care usually continues through the NHS, often with your GP.
For example, someone diagnosed with diabetes after taking out cover may find that the investigations and initial treatment are covered by their policy. The NHS would then generally provide routine monitoring and long-term medication.
Checking a policy
Cover varies between policies
How chronic conditions are treated varies between insurers and between policies. Some policies, including some international policies, provide cover for the ongoing treatment of chronic conditions. Some treat cancer differently from other chronic conditions.
Check the relevant policy documents for full details of what is and is not covered.
This page contains general information about chronic conditions and private medical insurance. It does not describe the cover of any particular Freedom Health Insurance product, and it does not constitute a personal recommendation or advice about the suitability of any policy.