Private medical insurance is designed to cover the costs of private medical treatment for what are commonly known as acute conditions. An acute condition is defined as a disease, illness or injury that is likely to respond quickly to treatment which aims to return you to the state of health you were in immediately before suffering the disease, illness or injury, or which leads to your full recovery. By buying this type of insurance you gain the reassurance of knowing that treatment is available promptly, if you become ill or you are injured. As a private patient you can choose when treatment will take place, the specialist who treats you and the hospital. Some illnesses and treatments will not be covered by a private medical insurance policy and these are common to most medical insurance schemes.