• Mental health claims increase by a third year-on-year 2022 to 2023

• Cancer claims up by a fifth with cost of claims rising by 131% as severity rises

• Data highlights how NHS crisis is fuelling demand for private healthcare services but patients require more complex, expensive treatment

New data from leading independent consultancy Broadstone analysing the volume and cost of corporate healthcare claims demonstrates how the surge in workplace ill-health and growing public health crisis is fuelling demand for private healthcare treatment.

However, the underlying data analytics also shows a significant increase in the cost of claims being paid by insurers as patients require more complex treatments as delayed or missed diagnoses delay necessary care.

Mental health is largest health condition for those who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness with 53% of this group (1.35 million people in 2023) reporting it as a health condition1. Yet among corporate PMI plans, the volume of mental health claims has risen by 33% between 2022 and 2023. The cost of mental health claims has also increased by two-thirds (68%), suggesting patients are presenting with more serious symptoms that need longer courses of treatment.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) issues are another prevalent driver of economic inactivity and the data shows claims incidence are up by 14% and the value of claims paid rose by 31%.

Similarly, looking at cancer claims, the number of claimants has grown by a fifth (20%) but claims paid have increased by a hugely significant 131%. The latest NHS data shows that only 64% of people in England received their diagnosis and started their first treatment within 2 months (or 62 days) of an urgent referral in February 2024. The target is 85%2.

Brett Hill, Head of Health & Protection at Broadstone, said: “Soaring waiting lists and a surge in the number of patients per GP are causing delays to treatment, missed or late diagnoses and a decline in the ability of the NHS to keep people fit and healthy. The feed through into economic inactivity due to chronic illness has been almost immediate as employees wait for healthcare support before returning to the workforce.

“This ongoing public healthcare crisis is inevitably feeding through into increasing private healthcare claims – the majority of which occur within employer-funded schemes – across all major conditions. 

“Another worrying indicator is the spike in the cost of claims being paid. Some of this is due to inflationary pressures hitting the private healthcare supply chain, and the soaring cost of new cancer drugs is presenting a challenge for insurers and employers alike, but we are also now seeing the impact of disruption to primary care and screening services in recent years, with patients requiring more complex and/or lengthier courses of treatment because their conditions were not identified at an early stage.

“We are continuing to see strong corporate demand for initiating or expanding private healthcare schemes in recognition of the urgent need to protect the health of employees, but employers also need to invest in preventative healthcare for their workforce to ensure the cost of their private healthcare scheme remains sustainable.

“Onsite health checks, screening services and digital wellbeing programmes are just a few of the measures employers must consider to support the health of their staff and reduce economic inactivity. 

“With the NHS crisis unlikely to recede in the short-term, we expect to see a growing focus on how private healthcare costs can be managed as claims grow in both volume and severity.”