£29billion a year spent on out of pocket health expenses

Yet private medical insurance is at its most affordable in years, according to ActiveQuote

Brits spend £29billion a year on out of pocket health expenses, according to new research released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS)* today (April 25^th), yet according to leading comparison site ActiveQuote, private medical insurance (PMI) is at its most affordable for the past decade.

The ONS research found that an average of £2,920 was spent per person on healthcare in the UK in 2016, that included NHS, insurance and out of pocket expenditure. Fifteen per cent of total expenditure was out of pocket expenses, which includes non–insurance spending on healthcare goods and services and equates to £438 per person.

Private Medical Insurance would pay for most out of pocket health expenditure experienced by an UK average family, yet PMI insurance only makes up 3.3% of health expenditure.

Mark Todd, Private Medical Insurance team leader at ActiveQuote, explained that the days of Private Medical Insurance only being the realm of the rich are gone: “There are so many insurance and mutual societies now offering PMI, yet many people still believe that private medical insurance is expensive and out of their reach.

“In fact, the opposite is true. PMI is at the most competitive it has been in years and cover is available for all budgets. A family of four can get private medical insurance for as little as £38.74 a month**, which works out at £464.88 a year, just above the average expenditure on out of pocket expenses per person – and that’s for four people.”

Mark added: “The fact that only 3% of the UK spend is on private medical insurance shows that as an industry we really have to work hard to re-educate the British public that private medical insurance is available and relatively affordable.

“The days of limited options and companies in the market are long gone and the days of one policy fits all are also gone. Here at ActiveQuote, we work with customers every day to find a policy and a price that suits them and their families, so they don’t have to scrimp and save for those unexpected health bills.”

Wanda Rich

Editor-in-Chief since 2011.