If you've searched the internet for private health insurance that covers stomach cancer then you are most likely for looking for established UK based health insurance companies that can cover your stomach cancer.
Our advice when looking for health insurance that covers stomach cancer is to speak to a health insurance broker. Health insurance is very complex and if you want complete certainty that stomach cancer is covered you should consult 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 biggest by far is that you're using their industry experience 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 lower 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 insurer 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 stomach cancer, 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 health insurance broker which will know which providers on the market cover stomach cancer and under what conditions they do or don't cover it.
Stomach Cancer Information
Stomach cancer, or gastric cancer, is a fairly uncommon type of cancer. Around 7,000 people are diagnosed with it each year in the UK.
The initial symptoms of stomach cancer are vague and easy to mistake for other less serious conditions. They include:
Symptoms of advanced stomach cancer can include:
As the early symptoms of stomach cancer are similar to those of many other conditions, the cancer is often advanced by the time it's diagnosed. It's therefore important to get any possible symptoms of stomach cancer checked by your GP as soon as possible.
Read more about diagnosing stomach cancer
The exact cause of stomach cancer is still unclear, although you're more likely to develop it if you:
Read more about the causes of stomach cancer.
There are several different types of stomach cancer. More than 95% of stomach cancers develop in the cells of the stomach lining and are known as adenocarcinomas.
Less common types of stomach cancer include lymphoma of the stomach, which develops in the lymphatic tissue (tissue that drains away fluid and helps fight infection), and gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), which develop in the muscle or connective tissue of the stomach wall.
Many cases of stomach cancer can't be completely cured, but it's still possible to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life using chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and surgery.
If operable, surgery can cure stomach cancer as long as all of the cancerous tissue can be removed.
Surgery to remove some or all of the stomach is known as a gastrectomy. It will still be possible to eat normally after a gastrectomy, but you'll probably have to adjust the size of your portions.
Chemotherapy can also be used before surgery to help shrink the tumour and sometimes after surgery to help prevent the cancer returning.
Read more about treating stomach cancer
Living with stomach cancer and the effects of surgery can be tough, but there are a range of services that can provide social, psychological and financial support.