Despite a dip in insurer-funded healthcare during the second quarter, expectations are for another year of growth, driven by broader acceptance of private healthcare by Millennials.
After a strong start to the year, there was a small dip in insurer-funded healthcare during the second quarter, but the sector finished on a high, according to the latest invoice data from Healthcode.
The UK’s official clearing organisation for medical invoices validated more than 2.9 million invoices in the April to June period. This was a slight rise of 1.4% year-on-year but was 0.7% lower than the first quarter.
Nonetheless, a busy first three months of the year have meant that the total volume for the first six months of this year was still up 4% year-on-year at 5.9 million. In addition, insured activity regained momentum by the end of the quarter: the volume for June (999,097) was up by 0.5% on May and by 9% year-on-year.
Healthcode’s managing director Peter Connor pointed out that the lull in the second quarter was only temporary. “We’ve seen volumes recover in recent weeks across all regions and settings while our current full-year projection anticipates another year of growth for insured healthcare,” he said.
Normalisation of private care
That growth is likely to come from Millennials.
Private healthcare is increasingly being seen as “essential” for younger working-age people, with half of 35-44 year olds expecting to pay for treatment in the coming year.
The Independent Healthcare Providers Network’s (IHPN) latest Going Private 2025 report has found that while previously those under 30 have been most likely to consider using private healthcare, this openness to paying for treatment is now spreading to older groups. The 35-44 year old cohort is now the most likely to say they will use private healthcare, with 49% of this group saying they are expecting to use private healthcare within the next 12 months – a jump of 10 percentage points over the last year.
IHPN sees this in the context of the normalisation of going private. The report says that 71% of the population would now consider using private healthcare, which is a jump of almost 10% over the past two years.
“Whilst a decade or two ago it may have been seen as the preserve of the rich, it’s now clear that private healthcare is becoming ever more relevant to people’s everyday lives, with the increasing numbers of employers who are providing private medical insurance to their staff proving a particular driver in encouraging more people to go private,” said David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network.
