BUPA reveals fall in customer numbers
There would appear to be a sea change going on in the UK health insurance sector with healthcare giant BUPA announcing that the number of customers in the UK is falling at its fastest rate for over 12 years. It seems that unemployment and the ongoing recession have forced many households across the UK, and businesses, to re-evaluate their primary income requirements and ultimately reduce or ignore areas such as health cover.
It is interesting to see that even though the US is suffering a similar demise in economic activity the fall in customer numbers has been nowhere near that seen in the UK. It will be interesting to see how the figures respond as and when the UK economy recovers and whether those who have cancelled or reduced their policy premiums will return in due course. Prior to the recession there had been significant interest in the corporate healthcare market and individual health care policies. As the pressure continues to grow on the NHS the UK government would like nothing better than both corporate entities and individuals to "look after their own healthcare".
Whether we will see the reintroduction of various tax incentives to those who take out their own healthcare insurance remains to be seen but one lost customer for BUPA is one extra customer for the NHS.
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