The PMI concerns raised in BBC1's Watchdog last night were all about choice and cost control, WPA has said.
The programme made the case for rising premiums and less treatment choice in the healthcare insurance sector, putting AXA and Bupa in the spotlight.
It claimed Bupa had cut the amounts it was willing to pay by up to 40% on hernia procedures and 50% for kidney stones.
It presented two case studies featuring policyholders; one who incurred a 75% shortfall for their chosen consultant for a cataracts procedure; and another who had an £800 shortfall on surgeon's fees for a prolapsed disc.
Dr Richard Packard, private consultant representative, said on the show: "The cheaper options do not necessarily mean care is worse. But it is often the case that as a consultant if you have greater experience then you tend to charge more.
"My patients are hopping mad about the insurance shortfalls. They find when claiming they do not get what they thought."
WPA said the industry will be criticised by its association with the programme but not all insurers were doing the same thing.
The insurer received a number of calls today asking about schemes from those who had watched the programme.
He said: "Consultants should be able to pay what they like depending on what they feel they are worth. PMI is expensive and we need to articulate what we do. The cost should not be a blank canvas but when people are buying insurance they are doing so to enhance the choices open through the NHS.
"We undermine the reasons customers purchase medical insurance at our peril. Paying what is customary and reasonable is key - if a consultant charges in excess of what is customary and reasonable, they must have made this clear to their patients at the earliest opportunity.
"They are not excluded from any 'fee-assured' list because this undermines much of why medical insurance is brought in the first place."
He added, financial services providers should ensure medical decisions about customers and who they are referred to should be made by medical people.
Professor David Gartry said on Watchdog, speaking about the fees he charges: "I am not profiteering. I am charging a reasonable rate for the length of time I have been practising.
"There is a danger that inadvertently private health insurance is creating a second tier of consultants; that some patients will be able to pay the difference for more experienced and others will take the insurers advice and going to a cheaper consultant that is cheaper.
"What you are dealing with is an issue of choice. They may not be able to go and see the doctor recommended by the GP because they may not be fee agreed or fee assured."
Watchdog questioned whether PMI itself was now on the critical list as people were paying more and expecting less for the money.
AXA PPP said it paid 97% of fees submitted for treatment in full and would discuss any exceptions before treatment.
It stated on the programme: "A small number of consultants in some cases have inflated fees so much it would be detrimental to the long-term benefit of members to pay them unchallenged."
It added there was no published medical evidence that consultants charging up to three times more than necessary offered a better level of treatment.
Bupa said paying excessive fees for routine operations would lead to unecessary premium rises.
It stated in the case study presented on the show that many other consultants could have performed said-procedure for Bupa's standard fee, which was "considerably higher" than NHS consultant rates.
