Comprehensive private medical insurance plans can be expensive and if you are one of those people who find it unaffordable, you may be interested in other ways to protect yourself should the unexpected happen. For instance, did you know that some health insurance providers offer lower cost plans that just cover specified conditions?

Cancer, heart disease and stroke are common conditions covered in specific condition insurance plans. These plans could be very helpful if you consider that more than one in three people will develop some form of cancer during their lifetime, that in the UK more than one in three deaths are from cardiovascular disease (CVD) each year and that over 130,000 people have a stroke in England and Wales each year.

Some health insurers have chosen to offer a private medical insurance plan that provides protection specifically for these three conditions. And based on the statistics presented above, you can see why this plan can provide you with peace of mind as you will be covered for the UK's three biggest killers even if you cannot afford a full private medical insurance plan.

So if you ever needed to call upon the plan, you can be confident that you would have cover for early diagnosis and treatment in private hospital facilities for these conditions. Often plans will also include access to a helpline that you can access for information or counselling.

Health insurers may also offer plans that cover cancer and heart disease only, but in light of new cancer drugs such as Avastin and the fact that sometimes these drugs are not readily available on the NHS, some insurers are also offering cancer-only health insurance plans. There are a variety of cancer plan options in the market depending on your needs.

Some health insurance plans provide cash lump sum payments if you are diagnosed with cancer. These plans generally allow you to spend the money as you wish ? perhaps towards the cost of childcare or even for someone to clean your house while you are in hospital. There are often other benefits included such as monthly income payments up to a certain number of months and hospital cash payments up to a certain amount of nights. Sometimes these plans can be gender specific, targeting only certain types of cancer (e.g. ovarian, breast, etc. for women). Although receiving a cash payment might help during this time, you may find that it does not go very far ? especially if you wanted to use the money towards the cost of cancer drugs.

Other cancer plans offer cover for treatment only and are aimed at bridging the NHS gaps. For example, offering cover for certain licensed drugs and their administration. Treatment only plans have their benefits, but their usefulness may depend on where you live. If you live in an area where cancer drugs are available to all and cancer waiting times are being met, they may not be as relevant to you.

Alternatively, if you wanted even greater protection and peace of mind against the cost of dealing with cancer, some health insurers are offering cancer plans that provide comprehensive private cover.

Because the cover for health insurance plans for specific conditions is limited to the condition or conditions specified, premiums tend to be much lower than that of a traditional full private medical insurance plan. So if you are keen to have health cover of some sort but have not considered purchasing full private medical insurance because it is too expensive or it doesn't entirely suit your needs, a specific condition health plan ? whether it covers the UK's three biggest killers or cancer only ? might be just what the doctor ordered.