15 April 2020
Covid-19: information about AXA's health insurance
As people’s understanding of the importance of health and wellbeing has grown in recent years, including the importance of mental health and the link between mental and physical health, most insurers have expanded the range of benefits and services available within their private medical insurance (PMI) policies.
These services can include online GP consultations, mental health support services, access to phone or online counselling, remote support for musculoskeletal conditions and nurse-led helplines for the day-to-day management of ongoing medical conditions. With large numbers of people either working from home or confined to home, these services will be as important, or more important, than ever before.
Furthermore, some insurers are now introducing new benefits and services specifically designed to support their customers through the current pandemic. Insurers are providing regular updates on the benefits their PMI policies can provide through this period, and the latest information provided by your insurer can be found here:
Depending on the plan, AXA PPP customers will have access to the following services:
Mental health support services - these include access to counsellors and, for personal and SME healthcare customers, complimentary access to Thrive – an app with tools to support mental wellbeing designed to boost mental wellbeing and build resilience – until 20 September 2020.
At home services
- Consultations with specialists and practitioners over the phone and online (where clinically appropriate).
- Cancer treatment at home (where appropriate).
- Phone and online assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.
- Access to our 24/7 Health at Hand helpline staffed by nurses, midwives, pharmacists.
- Free online workouts and yoga through our website and social media.
- Online access to health and wellbeing support communities through ‘Health Unlocked’ – offered as part of our member online service.
- Discounts on health and wellbeing products and services from AXA Active Plus.
- Members will continue to benefit from access to cancer treatment at home (where clinically appropriate and in line with their plan benefit and rules), along with telephone-based support from its dedicated nurses.
In addition, AXA has created several new services to support customers through the pandemic:
NHS cash back - AXA has increased the NHS cash benefit paid on individual and SME private medical insurance policies by an additional £100 per night from 1 April 2020, for 12 months. They have also added this to plans which didn't previously have an NHS cash benefit. So, if a customer has in-patient treatment on the NHS or NHS radiotherapy or chemotherapy for cancer, they can claim a cash amount for each treatment or night they spend in an NHS hospital, for treatment that's covered by their plan. This includes hospitalisation for Covid-19 related conditions.
Virtual clinical support centre - AXA PPP healthcare has brought together a panel of the UK’s leading specialists and practitioners who are all available by telephone, video or online. The bespoke panel includes cancer, cardiology, ENT, gastroenterology, gynaecology, orthopaedic and paediatric specialists, many of whom are among the most senior and expert consultants in their respective fields.
The clinical support centre triage team will help signpost members to the most appropriate specialist, guiding them to the right support and advice. All without the need for an NHS GP referral letter. This will ensure members can access the right expert at the right time – all from the safety of their own home.
Members with a confirmed diagnosis already, and waiting for non-urgent, elective surgery can also use the clinical support centre to access care while they wait. This includes support for managing symptoms – for example, accessing pain relief or online physiotherapy. The centre will also support members who are in need of urgent treatment with onwards referral to newly established urgent and immediate care pathways put together by the public and private health systems.
Individual and SME members using the clinical support centre will have policy excesses, and benefit limits or restrictions on out-patient services waived during the crisis period for consultations and diagnostics arranged by the service.
Unlimited virtual GP service - this will be free of charge to UK individual and SME members for the duration of the pandemic within the UK, via AXA PPP healthcare’s private GP service – Doctor@Hand, provided by Doctor Care Anywhere. The service is accessible by telephone and video and for individual and SME members, will include home delivery of prescriptions at the standard NHS England prescription charge rather than private prescription charges, for as long as the clinical support centre is in operation.
Customer refunds – in response to the current limitations on access to treatment in private hospital facilities, AXA has confirmed that any reduction in their claims costs over the period 2020/2021, compared to 2019, will be refunded to SME and consumer customers in 2022 on a proportionate basis based on the premiums paid by those customers over 2020/2021. AXA is also pledging to offer fair and sustainable pricing to large corporate customers.
Find out more
For more information including answers to frequently asked questions regarding Covid-19, which are being updated regularly, please go to the AXA website.
If you have any questions about your health insurance policy, please contact your consultant.