There are three main things that normally cause people to take out private medical insurance plans.
The first of these three reasons is the higher level of choice that private medical insurance can offer its policy holders. This choice can range from being a choice of your preferred hospital to a choice of your favoured consultant. This means that people with private medical insurance are more likely to be able to feel comfortable in their environment and medical personnel than those who are on the NHS.
The second reason that people often have for opting for private medical insurance is the speed with which it enables you to receive your treatment. This is because most private hospitals have much shorter waiting lists than NHS hospitals, if they have a waiting list at all. This means that you are sure to receive your treatment as quickly as possible and it therefore often means that the treatment can be more effective.
The third reason that so many people choose to take out private medical insurance, is the fact that the quality of your care can often be much higher in private facilities than in hospitals run by the National Health Service. This is not to say that you will receive poor medical care from the NHS but simply that the less stretched budgets of private companies allow for a higher standard of hospital. What's more is that you will probably receive a private room if you receive treatment privately, this is often seen as one of the biggest plus points of being treated privately.