If you've searched the internet for health insurance that covers dermatitis herpetiformis then you are most likely for looking for established UK based health insurance companies that will cover your dermatitis herpetiformis.
Our advice when looking for private medical cover that covers dermatitis herpetiformis is to speak to a health insurance broker. Health insurance is extremely complex and if you want complete certainty that dermatitis herpetiformis is covered by your policy you should talk with a broker who can explain which providers will cover this medical condition and which will exclude it.
There are many advantages to using a insurance broker but the largest by far is that you're using their insurance training at no cost. They are paid by the insurer (Aviva or Bupa etc) rather than by you so it costs you no extra to use their services.
- Do you live in many different areas? Some will give you a cheaper policy premium than offers. A insurance broker will be able to advise whats best.
- Do you have a hobby that may invalidate your insurance policy? A broker will know this critical information.
- If you are a couple and one of you has claimed on your policy this year would it be cheaper to separate you both onto two different policies?
- You've developed a certain condition and want to know which policy provider offers the largest amount of cover for it. A broker will know this instantly saving you huge amounts of time and effort.
You can call around every health insurance provider on the market and ask if they cover dermatitis herpetiformis, however this will be a very time consuming process. Each insurer will ask for your medical history because its not normally a simple yes or not if a medical condition is covered or not.
Its much quicker to speak to one medical insurance broker which will know which policy providers on the market cover dermatitis herpetiformis and under what conditions they do or don't cover it.
Dermatitis Herpetiformis Information
Dermatitis herpetiformis (DH) is an autoimmune skin condition linked to coeliac disease.
DH affects fewer people than coeliac disease, at around 1 in 10,000 people.
DH can appear at any age, but is most commonly diagnosed in those between the ages of 15 and 40.
It's more common in men than women and is rare in children.
People with DH can have:
The rash can affect any area of the skin but is most commonly seen on the:
The rash usually occurs on both sides of the body, for example on both elbows.
Most people with DH will have the same kind of gut damage seen with coeliac disease, but may not complain of gut symptoms like:
Just over half (60%) of people with DH don't have gut symptoms.
DH is caused by the body's immune system reacting to a protein called gluten in foods containing wheat, barley and rye. This reaction causes a skin rash to develop.
A diagnosis of DH is confirmed by a skin test called a skin biopsy. A skin biopsy is a procedure where a sample of skin is removed to be tested.
During this test, a specialist skin doctor called a dermatologist will take a small sample of skin from an area without the rash. Samples of skin taken from the area with the rash don't always give an accurate result.
The skin sample is then tested. If you test positive for DH you'll be referred to a specialist gut doctor called a gastroenterologist to be tested for coeliac disease.
To ensure an accurate skin test is taken first time, it's important to keep eating gluten-containing foods before and during diagnosis.
If you've already removed gluten from your diet, you must reintroduce it in more than one meal every day for at least 6 weeks before having the tests.