Report: Research from Laing & Buisson shows healthcare market stable
Spending on health and care cover, such as private medical insurance (PMI), healthcare cash plans and dental benefit plans, in the UK reached £4.1 billion in 2003, according to the latest Health & Care Cover - UK Market Sector Report 2004, from Laing & Buisson.
The study showed that if health protection products such as critical illness (CI) and income protection (IP) are included, this figure rises to £8.9 billion.
Approximately 20% of the UK population now has some form of healthcare cover, with the largest portion - £3.27 billion - having been spent on PMI and self-insured corporate schemes in 2003. A further £417 million was spent on healthcare cash plans, £284 million on dental benefit plans and £136 million on long term care products.
While public spending on PMI fell in 2003, demand for healthcare cash plans grew strongly, up by 10.7% on the previous year. Raman Sankaran, head of marketing at HealthSure supported the findings. "We have seen an upturn in the demand for healthcare cash plans, with renewed interest from all areas of the market. People are increasingly recognising the need to cover primary health care needs," he said.
