Impartial reviews on the latest products and how they can impact consumers.
June 2014 Alliance Surgical: PMI
Alliance Surgical is the largest independent group of senior clinical doctors and specialists in the UK. It now offers as.one as an alternative to conventional private medical insurance (PMI). The plan is available to anyone resident in the UK, regardless of age, lifestyle or previous medical conditions. The plan includes one free specialist consultation a year, without going through the normal gatekeeper route of having to be referred by a GP. After speaking with the Consultant Triage team, Alliance Surgical guarantees an appointment with a specialist within five days. Those specialists comprise over 1,200 of the UK’s most eminent medical…
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May 2014 LV=: IP
LV= has introduced a number of changes to its existing income protection (IP) plan: • It has stopped offering the work tasks definition of incapacity and instead moved to 100% own occupation definition. That has resulted in 325 occupations moving to own occ. At the same time, LV= has increased the number of jobs for which it will provide own occ by 225. The own occ definition applies throughout the policy term and any claim. • Cover for homemakers has been simplified. They can now claim if unable to either prepare a meal or to do basic housework. The maximum…
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May 2014 LV=: Other
LV= has further enhanced its existing critical illness cover. The changes include: Increasing the number of conditions covered from 59 to 64, upping those with ABI+ definitions from 18 to 19 and adding more partial payments, taking those to 20. A full payment is now made for all clinically diagnosed heart attacks. LV= estimates this will mean it will pay out 10% more heart attack claims a year For stroke, there is no longer a requirement for permanent neurological deficit. Instead the plan pays out if symptoms have persisted for 24 hours or more. For cancer, the severity limit has…
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May 2014 MyRecoveryCheque: Other
MyRecoveryCheque is a range of products from MediCheque, which is run by ex PatientChoice founder Dominic Higham and its medical director Dr Tony Williams. This starter option costs just £5 a month per employee (through brokers – it’s actually more expensive if bought direct) and picks up on the fact that, since 6 April, employers can no longer reclaim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) paid to workers off work ill for up to 28 weeks. Prior to 6 April, a percentage threshold scheme (PTS) compensated employers if they had higher than average sickness absence. So, an employer could recover some of…
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May 2014 ALC Health: iPMI
ALC is introducing minor updates to its Prima Healthcare (iPMI) plans from 1 June 2014. The changes are (any benefit limits are shown in £ Sterling but the US Dollar equivalent is 1.5 times that figure and the Euro equivalent is 1.2 times the figure): Prima Platinum. Well-being health screening benefit is increased to £1,000 (or US $ or Euro equivalent). Routine pregnancy and childbirth benefit now available as an additional option, paying up to £20,000. Prima Premier. The limit for inpatient chronic care management and palliative treatment is increased to £20,000. Outpatient chronic care limit increased to £5,000. Prima…
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