Whether a private policy pays for an X-ray, an MRI, a CT or an ultrasound is decided by a few lines of wording, and the lines differ from one insurer to the next. Behind the search sits a choice between buying cover that pays for tests and keeping cash aside in case it does not. An FCA-authorised broker can ask insurers how each would treat a scan and lay the answers next to the prices; put your details into the quote form and one will ring you back, with no charge for the introduction.
Below is what Vitality, AXA Health and Aviva say about diagnostic tests, what paying for a scan yourself involves, and the questions that settle the rest. Bupa's wording has its own page, Bupa scans and diagnostics.
Does a policy pay for an X-ray, and who has to ask for it?
Of the three wordings, Vitality's membership guide is the one that names the plain X-ray. It lists the tests and says who orders them:
"You are also covered up to the limit shown on your membership certificate for any diagnostic tests (such as pathology, X-rays, ultrasound scans and ECGs) ordered by your consultant"
— Vitality, Membership Guide (Your Personal Healthcare plan terms and conditions), August 2024, page 16, read 10 October 2026.
Two conditions sit in that sentence. The test has to be ordered by the consultant, and the cover runs to a limit printed on the membership certificate, not in the guide, so the guide cannot tell you the figure. Later on, a worked example about one member's treatment plan answers the question of cover with "We pay for the cost of the consultations and diagnostic tests to establish the diagnosis" (page 48). That illustrates a single case; it is not a separate benefit.
Aviva's terms come at it from the other side, by saying who cannot order the test:
"We do not cover: • treatment provided by a GP • treatment or diagnostic tests requested by a GP, such as X-rays, blood tests and scans (other than two speech therapy sessions per child), or • GP charges or fees, including those for completing a claim form if the claim is not covered by the policy"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue), PDF page 23 (printed page 21), read 4 September 2026.
So on that wording an X-ray your GP asks for is not paid by the policy. The clause says nothing about tests a specialist asks for; those turn on the other terms below. Aviva has since issued March 2026 terms, while every piece of Aviva wording here comes from the April 2025 issue; compare it with the terms sent alongside your quote, or ask the broker who calls you back to go through what is different.
The practical point is the order of events. Vitality's cover is written around a test the consultant orders, and Aviva's goes further by ruling out one a GP requests, so it matters whether a scan follows a specialist appointment or comes straight from the surgery. The way in is covered on GP referrals for private treatment.
MRI, CT and PET scans: where the insurers set conditions
Two of the three wordings single out CT, MRI and PET scans. AXA Health's handbook gives them a table row of their own:
"CT, MRI or PET scans Paid in full at a scanning centre, or hospital listed as a scanning centre, in our Directory of Hospitals. A specialist must refer you."
— AXA Health, Personal Health membership handbook (October 2024), PDF page 4 (printed page 3), read 4 September 2026. The copy is hosted by an intermediary, so check it against AXA's own.
That is two conditions again, and neither is the cost of the scan: the centre has to be one the Directory lists as a scanning centre, and a specialist has to have referred you. The row gives no figure, and it is silent on what happens at a centre that is not listed, which is the thing to ask about before booking a scan somewhere convenient. The directory itself is a hospital list of the kind hospital lists explained goes through.
Aviva's version attaches the condition to the building instead of the referral:
"See specialists’ fees benefit term for information on what we pay for specialists’ fees Diagnostic tests In full CT, MRI and PET scans as an out-patient are only covered at a diagnostic centre"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue), PDF page 6 (printed page 4), read 4 September 2026.
The first half of that quotation is a cross-reference to a different row, so the part that matters is the last sentence: an out-patient CT, MRI or PET scan is paid only at a diagnostic centre. The clause does not define the term, and because it is about out-patient scans it says nothing about a scan done while you are an in-patient. On both rows, then, where the scan is done is a condition of payment, and neither tells you whether the centre nearest you qualifies.
Aviva's diagnostic-test rule, which can be read two ways
One more Aviva clause matters here, because it limits tests that would otherwise be covered, and the way the table is laid out leaves its reach uncertain:
"We will pay up to the limits in our fee schedule Diagnostic tests only if they: • lead directly to treatment as an in-patient or day-patient that is covered by the policy, or • take place within six months after treatment as an in-patient or day-patient that is covered by the policy and are required for the same condition EXPERT SELECT"
— Aviva, Healthier Solutions terms and conditions (April 2025 issue), PDF page 9 (printed page 7), read 4 September 2026.
The clause is a row of a benefit table, and the text finishes on the heading of the next column, EXPERT SELECT, with words before "Diagnostic tests" that belong to another row. It can therefore be read as a rule that applies to every cover option, or as one that applies to the Expert Select option alone. Both readings are open. On either one, a test that leads to an operation or a day-case, or follows one within six months for the same condition, is the kind the clause describes.
Elsewhere in the terms there is a line on what Aviva does cover for out-patients: "We do cover up to two consultations with a specialist each policy year, and limited diagnostic tests" (PDF page 24, printed page 22). It does not say which cover option that is, or what "limited" includes, which is why it cannot stand in for a figure. The question to put to Aviva, or to anyone quoting an Aviva policy, is which diagnostic-test rule applies to the option on the quote. The allowances behind it are covered on the out-patient cover page and benefit limits explained.
The three wordings on tests, side by side
Each cell below sums up the wording quoted above. Where a test is not named, the cell says so; that does not mean the insurer excludes it, only that whether it is paid for depends on the rest of the policy.
| Test | Vitality (August 2024 guide) | AXA Health (October 2024 handbook) | Aviva (April 2025 terms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| X-ray or ultrasound | Named; covered up to the certificate limit if the consultant orders it | Not named in this clause | Named only in the exclusion for tests a GP requests |
| CT, MRI or PET | Not named in this clause | Paid in full when a specialist refers you and the centre is in AXA's directory | As an out-patient, covered only at a diagnostic centre |
| Blood tests | "Pathology" named, on the same terms as an X-ray | Not named in this clause | Not covered when a GP requests them |
| Limit | Printed on the membership certificate | "Paid in full" for these scans | "Limited diagnostic tests", option unstated; possibly only tests tied to in-patient or day-patient treatment |
The cells that say "not named" are where to start asking. If you are weighing one of these insurers against another, a broker can put the same questions to each one it quotes and set the replies beside the prices.
Paying for a scan yourself
What an X-ray, MRI, CT, ultrasound or DEXA scan costs to pay for yourself is set by each hospital or scanning centre, so ask the provider for its figure. The hospital self-pay prices on this site are for other things: camera examinations such as gastroscopy and colonoscopy, which are diagnostic procedures rather than scans, and keyhole operations. Those are set out, labelled as self-pay prices, on Bupa scans and diagnostics; hospital cash pricing in general is on private hospital prices and your health insurance, and prices for common operations beside NHS waits are on private health insurance versus the NHS.
If a scanning centre or hospital quotes you a price, find out what sits inside it. Is the consultant who referred you charged separately? Is reading and reporting on the images part of the figure, or a second bill? Is a follow-up appointment to go through the result included?
Setting a cash price against cover is less simple than it looks. A premium is paid whether or not you ever have a test, and the wording decides whether the test would have been paid at all, with the conditions above on who asked for it and where it was done.
Questions to settle before relying on a policy for tests
- Is the test paid as part of an out-patient allowance, or under a separate line, and is it the same line for an X-ray as for an MRI?
- Must a specialist order or refer the test, and does a GP's request count?
- Is the scan paid in full only at certain centres, and is the one near me among them?
- Does the test have to lead to treatment, or follow it, to be paid?
- What limit applies, and where is it printed: on the quote, or only on the certificate once you have bought?
- Is the reason for the test new, or linked to something that predates the policy?
Insurers answer these differently, which is the point of asking them of more than one.
Scans, blood tests and health questions: short answers
Does private health insurance cover a DEXA scan?
It depends on the policy: none of the AXA, Aviva or Vitality wording above mentions a DEXA (bone density) scan. Their scan rows name CT, MRI and PET only, and Vitality's list of tests begins "such as", so it is not a complete list. Ask the insurer which heading a DEXA comes under, whether a specialist has to order it, and what limit applies.
Can I claim an MRI on private health insurance?
Under the AXA Health handbook, an MRI is paid in full at a listed scanning centre when a specialist has referred you. Under Aviva's terms, an out-patient MRI is paid only at a diagnostic centre. Both are cover with conditions, not an unconditional yes, and the quote's out-patient line says whether you have that cover at all.
Is a private blood test covered?
Vitality's guide lists pathology among the tests it covers when the consultant orders them, up to the certificate limit. Aviva's terms list blood tests among those it does not cover when a GP requests them. Neither clause deals with a blood test you book for yourself; what that costs is for the clinic to tell you.
Can I get health insurance if I have high blood pressure?
Having high blood pressure does not stop you asking for a quote. Whether a condition you already have, high blood pressure included, is covered, excluded or priced differently depends on the insurer and on how the policy is underwritten, and how insurers treat pre-existing conditions sets out the routes. Since insurers can decide it differently, it is worth having a broker ask several of them on your actual medical details.
What medical test is required for health insurance?
Whether you would be asked for a medical examination or a test depends on the insurer and the underwriting route, so ask before you apply. What you declare about your health history, and how an insurer treats it, is covered in private health insurance underwriting explained.
Before you count on a policy to pay for a scan, get a quote that sets its out-patient and diagnostic terms beside the price. Once you have used the enquiry form here, a broker will ring and collect those terms from the insurers for you.