Private medical insurance costs 'should fall 15%' says Bupa
Bupa argues health insurance costs too much.
The cost of private medical insurance (PMI) needs to fall 15%.
That's the argument made this week by Dr Damien Marmion, managing director of Bupa Health Funding, on the BBC's Wake up to Money programme. He warned of a “flatline and decline” in interest in health insurance if costs did not start to fall.
A survey carried out by the healthcare company reflects this concern. More than half of its customers are now worried about the price of buying health insurance.
To make services more affordable, Bupa has reduced their own rates and says it wants its competitors to do the same.
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Healthy competition
Last August the Competition Commission (now part of the Competition and Markets Authority) said that there was a lack of competition between private hospitals, which is needed to drive prices down. The Commission also said that insurers, including Bupa, need to be clearer when telling customers what to expect from their premiums.
It proposed five measures to make private medical insurance cheaper: divestiture of hospitals; Private Patient Units (PPUs); incentive schemes; hospital and consultant performance; and consultant fee information.
Check out Is private medical insurance about to get cheaper? for more.
How to lower your private healthcare costs
There are a few things you can do to shrink the price of your policy, such as reduce the level of cover or increase your excess, What's more some policies actually cut your premiums if you live more healthily.
For more read How to pay less for private medical insurance.
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Is health insurance too expensive? Tell us in the comments below.
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Never a truer word spoken! I'm glad to note that the ever-climbing prices that these companies charge must be at last having a detrimental effect on them. We had PHI for 20 years, until this year, when I got so fed up with the annual rise in prices, and their arrogance, that I told them to poke it. They attempt to justify the price hikes - we were with Pru Health, née Standard Life, but they are all the same - with their made up term of "medical inflation" as if there were any reason for that to actually exist! It's part of their job to keep prices down, by telling hospitals, and- especially - medicos who are ever more greedy for ridiculous unwarranted salries, that they simply will not pay. However, they don't do that - they simply hike prices yet again to the customer. Shame ALL of those who have PHI don't do as I did!
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Healthcare provision will never be cheap until major advances in treatments are made. The supply of core services is inevitably limited and will remain so until there are more skilled staff to deliver those services. Therefore the current monopolistic situation in health care will allow public and private supply prices to be too high. Without government regulation there will be uneven service provision. A private market is unable to cope with this sort of situation. How can one private health insurance provider say what is the correct price for health insurance. Such companies can only make commercial decisions for themselves for commercial reasons only. There is a need for private health care which must be properly priced but the UK must retain a strong publicly funded health system. To go the way of the USA would be disastrous and require the UK government to ensure a more equal sharing out of income and wealth. At present I do not think the UK governments would do that.
REPORT This comment has been reported. -
Healthcare provision will never be cheap until major advances in treatments are made. The supply of core services is inevitably limited and will remain so until there are more skilled staff to deliver those services. Therefore the current monopolistic situation in health care will allow public and private supply prices to be too high. Without government regulation there will be uneven service provision. A private market is unable to cope with this sort of situation. How can one private health insurance provider say what is the correct price for health insurance. Such companies can only make commercial decisions for themselves for commercial reasons only. There is a need for private health care which must be properly priced but the UK must retain a strong publicly funded health system. To go the way of
REPORT This comment has been reported.
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31 July 2014