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\t\tPrivate health insurance admissions continue to surge \t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 02 September 2025 2:21 pm\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tPrivate health insurance admissions continue to surge \t<\/p>\n
The number of hospital admissions using private healthcare in the first quarter of the year has bounced back to its pre-pandemic peak. <\/p>\n
The latest Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) data on private healthcare admissions published today revealed that the total number of admissions in the first quarter of 2025 was 241,000.<\/p>\n
Despite the figure being down four per cent on the same period last year (244,000), Q1 2025 was the second-highest level of reported admissions for any quarter that PHIN has data for.<\/p>\n
The number of those admitted with insurance reached 171,000, a joint record with the level touched in the same period last year. The figure was nearly 60 per cent higher than the 108,000 admissions recorded in the first three months of 2021. <\/p>\n
Those opting for self-pay admissions decreased by four per cent from the same quarter in the previous year, from 73,000 to 70,000.<\/p>\n
Brett Hill, head of health and protection at Broadstone, explained: \u201cWhile self-pay appears to have plateaued, private medical insurance continues to drive growth as employers expand coverage and employees increasingly expect this benefit as standard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Private healthcare tax raid <\/p>\n
This comes as City AM reported that City businesses have been increasingly offering private healthcare insurance<\/a> as an employee benefit when trying to recruit new staff, as NHS waiting lists grow. <\/p>\n While the public healthcare system struggles,\u00a0the government, via Health Secretary Wes Streeting, has been vocal about using the private health sector to ease pressure on the overcrowded NHS.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tLabour\u2019s Lord Kinnock: Slap VAT on private healthcare<\/a><\/p>\n Last month, Labour\u2019s Lord Kinnock called on the government to start charging VAT on private healthcare providers<\/a> to raise funds for the NHS.<\/p>\n He called on Rachel Reeves to apply similar VAT changes to private healthcare as she did with private schools for the upcoming Autumn Budget. Currently, there is a VAT exemption on private healthcare providers; however, Reeves is on the lookout for new taxes to plug a \u00a350bn hole<\/a> in the public finances.<\/p>\n Hill stated: \u201cWe would strongly warn the government against such a move. Private healthcare and company-funded benefits are playing a critical role in giving people faster access to care, easing pressure on the NHS and helping employees return to work sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cIncreasing Insurance Premium Tax or introducing new levies on the private health market would be counterproductive \u2013 making cover less affordable, deterring take-up and ultimately pushing more patients back onto the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill added that during a time when businesses are investing in ways to improve their workforce\u2019s health, \u201cgovernment policy should be encouraging, not undermining, this vital complementary support.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking at the time, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) told City AM: \u201cAt a time when the government is looking to promote the role of health prevention and reduce economic inactivity, we would be concerned about the introduction of any measures that might create a barrier to health support.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n