Freedom PMI product

Freedom Healthnet has launched a broker-led private medical insurance product (PMI).

The product, called Freedom Your Choice is described as a combination of a cash plan and a traditional PMI product.

The product is aimed at individual and corporate buyers and includes a critical illness plan, underwritten by Zurich Financial Services.

Roadshows, launching the product for brokers, will be held around the country between November and February. Healthnet said it would also provide back office and management support for the product.

Policyholders are paid a fixed amount for each illness at the time of diagnosis. They are then free to seek treatment wherever they choose. Policyholders can keep any savings they make by shopping around for cheap treatment.

Healthnet chief executive Nahid Salehi said the product gave clients the ability to manage their own healthcare. "We give them the freedom to our clients to choose when and where they want to have treatment. They can go anywhere in the world."

She said the product was an attempt to reduce the cost of private medical cover at a time when rises in PMI premiums were forcing many out of the market.