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Health insurance for people over 70 is as valuable as ever, as it can help you avoid some of the worst of what's happening in the NHS. But, getting health insurance over 70 is a minefield, so, our team of private medical insurance experts have created this comprehensive guide explaining your options, who the best providers are, how to get a policy and save money.
Health insurance for those over 70 is the same as a plan for someone younger. However, there are often restrictions to be mindful of, alongside the need for a more careful approach to medical underwriting.
At its core, over-70s health insurance covers the cost of treatment in private hospitals should you need it. You pay a monthly premium; in return, your health insurer will cover the cost of inpatient and day-patient treatment for eligible conditions.
There are numerous ways to extend your health insurance plan, such as by adding out-patient treatment and diagnostic testing, dental cover, and more.
Primary differences with health insurance if you're over 70:
There's often confusion about health insurance and whether health cash plans, like those from Benenden or SimplyHealth, are insurance products. To help you know the difference, here's a brief explanation:
Health insurance covers unpredictable health conditions that typically require hospital treatment or surgery. Private health insurance often extends to other services such as physiotherapy and mental health care, but crucially, it covers unpredictable health issues.
Health cash plans help you budget for routine medical expenses such as trips to the dentist, opticians, audiologists and sometimes physiotherapy. These plans aren't insurance, as they're there to cover predictable costs.
We have a detailed guide explaining why health insurance gets more expensive as we age. But in short, it's because we're at a higher risk of developing medical conditions as we age. Treatment also becomes more complicated and costly due to patients often having comorbidities that have to be considered. Finally, recovery from treatment often takes longer, again pushing the cost of claims up for insurers.
Medical conditions that coexist alongside a primary diagnosis and affect your health, including your treatment and outlook.
The benefits of private medical insurance for to the over 70s are significant and go far beyond simply faster treatment:
*Pre-diagnostic consultations are typically only available if you opt for out-patient cover
All health insurance in the UK is designed to cover new, acute medical conditions that come on after taking out a policy. Basic policies will usually cover the cost of treatment in private hospitals once you are diagnosed, with more comprehensive policies including out-patient cover so that you can go private for diagnostic testing and consultations, too.
A note on cancer and mental health conditions
Both cancer and mental health conditions can share characteristics with both acute and chronic conditions. However, they are usually covered so long as you have the appropriate policy options.
While each insurer will have a list of exclusions, which is well worth looking at, the two exclusions of particular note are chronic and pre-existing medical conditions. Chronic conditions are those that require management and where a full recovery often isn't possible, for example diabetes and asthma.
Pre-existing conditions are things you've suffered from or sought treatment for in the past. With Moratorium underwriting, anything in the past five years will automatically be excluded, whereas with Full Medical Underwriting, your insurer will be more specific about your exclusions.
Underwriting is the process your insurer goes through to assess the risk of insuring you, and with private medical insurance, you usually get a choice between several types, moratorium, full medical, and switch underwriting.
Moratorium underwriting is often the simplest option when getting a new policy, as your insurer will ask only a limited number of questions about your medical history. With moratorium underwriting, your insurer will usually automatically exclude any health conditions you've suffered from in past five years, including those you've had treatment for, or merely sought advice about. If you get a policy and don't experience symptoms of a previously excluded condition for two years, it'll be covered in future years.
Full medical underwriting takes a different approach. You'll need to complete a medical questionnaire about your history of illnesses, injuries and previous conditions. Your insurer will then use that information to provide you with a list of exclusions, and you'll have the choice as to whether you'd like to continue and take out the policy, or not. Unlike moratorium underwriting, once you have exclusions on your policy from full medical underwriting, it's unlikely to be removed unless you were to negotiate it with your insurer.
Benefits of full medical underwriting:
Finally, if you already have a health insurance policy and you're looking to switch to a new provider, you'll have the option to consider "switch" underwriting. With this type of underwriting, you can move to a new insurer while preserving your current list of exclusions, i.e. minimising the risk of more being added. Each insurer has different switch criteria you'll need to meet to benefit, and it won't be an option for everyone.
Our team of private healthcare and insurance experts regularly review the market of UK health insurance companies to help you better understand how they all compare. We look at policy benefits, limits and restrictions, costs and customer satisfaction to provide a balanced view of the private healthcare market.
In 2024, our top private health insurance providers for over 70s are:
Bupa is the best-known private health insurance provider in the UK and has an outstanding reputation among customers and brokers. Bupa is a not-for-profit organisation, meaning it doesn't pay profits to shareholders but instead can invest them into the business to benefit members.
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Bupa has several unique benefits including "Direct Access" which allows you to bypass your GP and go straight to them if you suspect you might have cancer and several other concerns.
Alongside that, Bupa also has very competitive pricing, especially for seniors. With no upper age limit to join, they're a good choice regardless of how many years you have under your belt.
Finally, customers of Bupa also thing they're "Excellent", with a current score of 4.3 out of 5 stars on the reviews platform Trustpilot from 25,417 reviews.
The Exeter are one of the lesser known health insurers among consumers but should be close to the top of your list of contenders when looking at over 70s health insurance. True they only accept new members up to their 80th birthday but, if you're in your 70s they might be an excellent choice.
What stands The Exeter out from others is fairness. They are the fairest insurer regarding how claims affect your renewal premiums, meaning smaller claims affect your no-claims discount less with The Exeter. They're also one of the best in terms of medical underwriting and how previous medical issues affect your policy exclusions. From what we understand, The Exeter's underwriting team is far more targeted with their exclusions, and that can lead to fewer restrictions.
Customers of The Exeter also think they're "Great" with a score of 4.2 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot from 888 reviews.
Vitality is one of the newer health insurance brands in the UK and does things differently from the rest. With Vitality, the cost of your policy is linked to how fit and active you are, meaning if you like to keep in shape and are happy to track your activity, they'll reward you for it in lower premiums.
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Vitality is also the only insurer in this shortlist that doesn't operate a no-claims bonus and, instead, has something called their A+B+C pricing model (Age+Base Inflation+Claims) to try to make renewal pricing more simple and transparent.
Unfortunately, if you're 80 years of age or older, you can't join Vitality, but if you get a policy before that age you're fine to stay with them beyond that. The only other consideration with Vitality is that as your activity levels impact your renewal premiums, if you're not active for whatever reason, then you will see higher premiums into the future.
Vitality currently outperforms others in this list in terms of customer reviews, with a total of 43,802 and a score of 4.3 out of 5 stars and a rating of "Excellent" on Trustpilot.
Axa Health's Personal Health policy is an excellent choice for the over 70s, albeit you'll need to go through full medical underwriting after your 75th birthday. Opt for a hospital list rather than guided consultants (more on this later).
You'll have access to one of the best standard hospital lists in the market, with very few exclusions. Axa Health also has very generous standard out-patient limits and no limit on out-patient therapies if that cover option is selected.
Currently, Axa Health scores 4.2 out of five on Trustpilot from over 12,135 reviews.
Finally, Saga is a choice that many will consider, not realising that their policies are underwritten by Bupa, with Bupa also handling their claims. The attraction to Saga beyond brand recognition in the market is that they have no upper age limit and slightly different underwriting terms to many leading insurers.
Many of the benefits with Saga are comparable to that of Bupa, such as mental health cover included as standard and direct access to MSK and mental health services.
Saga currently has a score of 4 out of 5 on Trustpilot based on close to 40,000 reviews. However, as Saga offers many services beyond health insurance, it's difficult to know how well it does in that respect.
Our latest 2024 research found that the average cost of private health insurance for a 70-year-old was £141 per month for a plan without out-patient cover and £203 with out-patient cover.
These prices are purely indicative and depending on where you live, your cover options and other factors your premiums could be higher or lower.
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When you start looking at private health insurance cover there are several key considerations and decisions you'll need to make. Here we summarise some of the main ones to be mindful of, and to raise with your broker come the time you speak with one.
Health insurance is a relatively complicated financial product, so we always recommend you speak with a health insurance broker or financial adviser before buying a policy and getting expert advice. They don't charge you for their service; you'll pay the same, and sometimes less than you would go direct, and you'll have an expert on hand to answer any questions you have. If you compare health insurance with myTribe, we'll introduce you to one of our highly-rated, fully vetted health insurance brokers. Each of those we work with is excellent, and we continually get glowing feedback from people about them.
Disclaimer: This information is general and what is best for you will depend on your personal circumstances. Please speak with a financial adviser or do your own research before making a decision.
Chris is our resident private health insurance and healthcare expert. He has over a decade of experience writing about private medical insurance and treatment. He's Chartered Insurance Institute qualified and is regularly quoted by the national press.
In short - yes, over 70s can get private health insurance. However, what's covered will depend on your medical history, with at least conditions you've sought treatment for or had advice about in the past five years excluded, which is the same regardless of your age.
We think it is, yes. The NHS is still struggling with close to record numbers of people waiting for medical treatment, and while the new Labour Government plan to fix it, most experts agree it'll take time. Private health insurance is an annually renewable product, so you could take it out now, to protect yourself from the current issues in the NHS, but then cancel it in a few years if all goes to plan and the NHS get's back to it's former strength.
Our research has shown that Bupa, Vitality, and The Exeter are all well-priced for 70-year-olds, but you may find that another provider is cheaper when you compare quotes.
Based on pricing, plan limits, customer reviews and policy benefits, the top five private health insurance companies for senior citizens are Bupa, The Exeter, Vitality, Axa Health and Saga.
No, most insurers will automatically exclude any pre-existing conditions you've suffered from in the five years before taking out a policy if you opt for moratorium underwriting.
Yes, health insurance can provide peace of mind and financial security for seniors, especially while waiting times are still extended in the NHS.
No, senior health insurance is usually the same as it would be for younger people, albeit there may be more restrictions or joining criteria when you get the policy.
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*Based on 461 quotes between 01/22-01/23
