The following glossary of terms may prove to be of some assistance when completing the Halcyon HealthCare Needs Analysis Questionnaires.

When such terms are used in private medical insurers’ policy documents, the insurers’ definitions should be referred to, rather than those given below, which have been provided only for initial guidance prior to completing the questionnaires. The ABI Guide, “Are you buying Private Medical Insurance” should also be consulted.

You can download a copy here (just click on the image). It is a 15-page PDF file that you can print out or read on screen.

Acute Conditions	Curable, short-term illness or injury
Alternative Therapies	May include physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathy and chiropody
Cash Benefit for Treatment by the NHS	Money back payment from the insurer for electing to have treatment by the NHS instead of exercising the right to private treatment
Cash Plan	Partial cash reimbursement of insured’s costs of optical, dental, alternative therapies, and chiropody, etc. and cash benefits for admission to hospital and maternity benefit etc.
Chronic Conditions	Long-term illnesses that cannot be cured
Claims procedures	Increasingly, leading insurers agree claims by telephone, whenever possible, rather than by claim form
Consequences of non-disclosure	When making a medical history declaration, it is essential that a full disclosure is made, otherwise the insurance provider may reject any subsequent claims
Day-patient	Admission to hospital for a day without the need to stay overnight.
Dentistry	Routine dental treatment not involving oral surgery
Excess	The amount the insured agrees to pay towards his/her treatment in order to reduce the cost of cover. (Usually paid only once on the initial claim per person per policy year)
Full Medical Underwriting	Requires the proposer to provide details of his/her previous medical history and to give the insurer permission to seek further information from the proposer’s GP. Pre-existing conditions that occurred prior to the commencement of cover, will normally be excluded from cover
Inflation of Medical costs	The increasing cost of medical treatment year on year resulting partly from the increasing sophistication of treatments and diagnostic tests
In-patient	A person who is admitted to hospital for treatment and for medical reasons has to stay for one or more nights.
Medical History Disregarded	For groups of 20/25 or more directors and employees and for an additional cost, any pre- existing medical conditions suffered by members of the scheme will be covered, provided they fall within the terms and conditions of the scheme.
Moratorium	The proposer is not required to declare his/her medical history on application, but any condition suffered in (usually) the previous five years will eventually be covered if no symptoms, treatment, medication, tests or advice is received for that condition for a further period of (usually) two years
Out-patient	A person treated in a hospital, consulting room or clinic, but not as a day-patient or in-patient
Overseas Cover	Cover for treatment and if necessary, repatriation if you are ill or injured overseas
Parent accompanying a child	The cost of accommodation in hospital for a parent accompanying a child under the age of 9 (for some policies under the age of 14)
PMI	Private Medical Insurance
Pre-existing Conditions	Any conditions (disease, illness or injury) for which the applicant has received medication, advice or treatment or has experienced symptoms, whether diagnosed or not, before insurance cover commenced
Private Hospital	A hospital that charges fees for all its services
Private Wing of an NHS hospital	Private fee-paying wards within NHS hospitals
Related Conditions	A medical condition, (symptom, illness, disease pre-existing conditions or injury) arising from or associated with a pre-existing condition
Switching Insurers	Group Scheme Administrator’s may often be able to switch their scheme to another insurer without loss of cover for pre-existing conditions on Continuing Medical Exclusion (CME) terms. Such terms are not so readily available forindividual and family schemes. Advice should be sought before cancelling cover with your present insurer and switching to a new provider

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