What health insurance does HCA Central London Hospitals cover?

HCA hospitals in the UK

HCA Healthcare has a total of 16 locations in the UK, with the majority (13) in London. These world-class facilities offer everything from complex acute care to ambulatory surgery and diagnostics.

HCA in London

HCA has six private hospitals in London, two private care units within NHS hospitals and four specialist outpatient and diagnostic centres. Here’s a summary of each of their locations, along with their specialties:

HCA private hospitals in London

• Harley Street Clinic – oncology, cardiology and neuroscience
• London Bridge Hospital – complex and acute care
• Wellington Hospital – specialist complex care and neurosciences
• Portland Hospital – The UK’s largest private hospital with dedicated pediatric intensive care
• Lister Hospital – diagnostic tests and surgical procedures
• Princess Grace Hospital – Acute, private surgical hospital for complex care

HCA private care units in London

• HCA UK at University College Hospital – hematology and oncology (cancer)
• Private care at Guy’s – world cancer center

HCA medical and diagnostic centers in London

• LOC – Leaders in Oncology Care – specialist cancer clinic
• HCA UK in The Shard – center for outpatient diagnostics and treatment
• Golders Green Outpatient and Diagnostic Centre
• Chiswick Medical Centre – center for family diagnostics and treatment
• Sydney Street Clinics and Diagnostic Centre

HCA facilities outside London

Outside London, HCA has one dedicated private hospital and two private care units within NHS hospitals. The Wellington Hospital in Elstree is their newest private hospital, giving Hertfordshire and North London access to same-day outpatient appointments, blood tests and diagnostic tests.

In Manchester, HCA has two facilities, both of which are private units within larger NHS hospitals.

• Christie Private Care – Manchester
• HCA at Wilmslow Hospital – Manchester
• Wellington Hospital Elstree Waterfront

A brief introduction to the functioning of health insurance

We won’t spend too much time explaining how health insurance works in this post as we have other guides that go into much more detail; however, for the uninitiated, here’s a quick overview.

Private health insurance covers the costs of acute medical conditions that you experience after taking out the policy. Basic policies will cover treatment where you need a hospital bed overnight or just for one day (inpatient and day). More comprehensive policies include outpatient products, tests, scans and diagnostic tests. Chronic conditions and pre-existing medical conditions are always excluded.

Most, but not all, health insurance policies are written on a moratorium basis, meaning that any medical conditions you suffered from in the five years prior to taking out the policy will be excluded as pre-existing conditions. Typically, with an insurance moratorium, if you do not suffer from symptoms or require treatment for a previously excluded condition for two years after taking out the policy, the condition will be added back and covered.

All the leading insurers have lists of hospitals and usually, the more you pay in premiums, the more choice you have. It’s the same with medical specialists, with many of the major providers giving you a choice of “managed” consultants, where you’re limited to a smaller pool of doctors in exchange for roughly a 20% discount on your premiums. Alternatively, you can opt for unlimited consultant access to make sure you can see who you want to be when you want to.

Finally, all health insurance policies will have exclusions, so it is never a complete substitute for NHS services. For example, private health insurance in most cases does not cover emergency services or routine maternity care. In short, private health insurance should work alongside NHS services, and you are free to use them interchangeably.

HCA hospitals and health insurance

Because HCA operate world-class facilities, often in city centres, using the latest technology and arguably some of the best consultants and specialists in the UK, they charge more than the leading private hospital groups. As such, health insurers, even those with almost unlimited hospital lists, such as WPA and The Exeter, turn off HCA Hospital. Additionally, with most all providers, you can choose to expand your list of hospitals to include HCA facilities.

In this next section, we look at how each of the five major health insurers handles HCA hospitals and provide approximate additional fees you can expect if you include them.

Don’t forget that HCA is not the only provider of world-class care in central London. By expanding your list of hospitals to include HCA hospitals, you’ll also gain access to many other leading hospitals and specialty care centers.

Axa Health

Axa Health works differently than other providers in that instead of giving you a straight choice from a list of hospitals, you choose a plan and depending on the plan you will get access to different hospitals. Their best list and plan is “Personal Health”, which is their full list of hospitals and will include HCA hospitals in Central London. If you don’t need access to these hospitals, you can opt for Health for You or even Inspire Health; however, by choosing them you also give up other benefits and inclusions that come with their flagship Personal Health plan. As you can see, it’s not very easy to tailor your cover when it comes to hospital listings with Axa Health, so we recommend asking us for a comparison quote and speaking to a health insurance broker first. A broker can provide you with a quote for all the leading health insurance providers, ensuring that HCA hospitals are included if you wish so that you can make a fair comparison.

Bupa

Bupa gives you three lists of hospitals to choose from, Basic approach, with 250 hospitals and clinics outside central London; Expanded Choice1,067 hospitals and clinics, with some in central London; and Wide selection, with a London centerwhich gives you almost unlimited coverage of the entire country.

Assuming you opt for Bupa’s Comprehensive policy, you can expect to pay approximately 37% more for Extended Choice with Central London compared to their standard Essential Access list. The difference between Essential Access and Extended Choice is lower, only 10%, so it would be worth considering whether you can do without some of the more expensive facilities in the capital.

Exeter

Exeter has three lists of hospitals and gives you a choice between “managed” consultants and hospitals, where you agree to a smaller set of hospitals and specialists in exchange for a lower premium and more choice about who and where you treat. Their three hospital lists are Basic, standard and extended, with only the latter including HCA hospitals in central London. As for the price difference, with The Exeter you can expect to pay over 60% more for a policy with access to central London hospitals, ouch.

WPA

WPA has one of the best standard hospital lists with over 1000 hospitals, clinics and scan clinics on its standard list. However, as with most other insurers, your premiums will be higher if you want to access central London hospitals, including those managed by HCA. Additionally, because WPA’s list of hospitals is one of the most comprehensive to begin with, the percentage you’ll pay to access Central London hospitals is lower than the others we’ve mentioned here. If you’re a Premier flexible health plan customer, you can expect to pay roughly 23% more to include top hospitals, and if you opt for their Elite health insurance, that drops to around 15%.