Business

Aviva’s private health insurance sales up 25% as NHS struggles with backlog

UK insurer Aviva reported a spike in private health insurance sales on Wednesday, as new data also shows patients have turned to private healthcare in record numbers. while NHS struggles with waiting time.

In a trading update, insurer FTSE 100 said its private healthcare sales jumped 25% to £33m in the first quarter of the year as the NHS backlog was encouraged. more people to go private.

“While the NHS is doing an amazing job for millions of people, there are people who want to speed up treatment or give themselves the confidence that if something happens to them, they want to be treated. so fast,” said Aviva’s representative. Managing Director Amanda Blanc told the Financial Times. “Volume is very strong and to be honest, we don’t see that changing any time soon.”

She said Aviva received about 123,000 new private medical clients in the past year. Its products, including a virtual GP service, have appealed to people trying to secure an appointment with their local clinic, she added.

Blanc said: “I think private healthcare should be seen as a positive addition to the NHS in clearly difficult times. Aviva’s health and protection business generated £2.5 billion in revenue last year.

The number of people waiting to start treatment at the hospital skyrocketed record high earlier this monthwith figures released by NHS England showing 7.3 million patients had yet to start treatment at the end of March.

Research published by the independent Private Healthcare Information Network (PHIN) on Wednesday also revealed there are 820,000 private inpatients and day hospital admissions in the UK by 2022, a high number. since the treatment data tracking organization began collecting these records in 2016.

Total annual revenue increased 8% year-over-year and 5% year-over-year, the last year before Covid-19 pandemic.

More than 200,000 people went private in Q4 2022, which is also a record high for any quarter.

PHIN reports that procedures paid for by private health insurance hit their highest levels since the start of the pandemic. There are more out-of-pocket hospitalizations — in which people choose to self-fund their health care rather than use private health insurance — in 2022 than in recent years.

PHIN CEO Ian Gargan predicts there will be more than 1 million patients in the private sector this year and expects private health insurance to become more common. “During the cost of living crisis, people are still willing to pay and prioritize their health,” he said.

Gargan believes that the main reason behind the increase in demand is public perception of NHS waiting lists and uncertainty about how long they will have to wait. He added: “People know they can have a long wait to get a cataract or a knee replacement. “They feel if they haven’t heard from someone for a long time, they’ve been forgotten.”

Spire Healthcare, a London-listed company independent healthcare groupin March reported an 8% increase in revenue in its preliminary results for the year ended December 31, 2022. It said the increase was due to increased privacy treatment, with increased private revenue 14.5%.

Its chief executive Justin Ash said at the time that “last year saw a constant change in the UK healthcare sector, with even more people looking for services.” fast and safe personal care”. Spire’s outlook added that inquiries from private patients went ahead of the previous year.

International healthcare company Bupa also reported increased demand for private health insurance in its full-year results released in March.

Meanwhile, investors were little surprised by Aviva’s broader first-quarter results, with turbulent markets weighing on its wealth business and solvency ratios. The company was slightly below analysts’ forecasts.

It also emerged on Wednesday that Cevian Capital, active investor, has sold all of his shares in Aviva, three years after the launch of the campaign.

Shares of the insurance company fell 5% in afternoon trading.



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