The takeup of Individual Medical Insurance is on the increase in the UK as publicity over fatal infections in NHS hospitals reaches new heights. The Telegraph quotes how 90 patients cared for by Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells Hospitals NHS Trust died as a result of infection from a nasty superbug, Clostridium difficile. With recent photographs of dirty hospitals in the press, the rise of MRSA and other such bugs and the often-lengthy waiting lists, people are turning to private health insurance to rescue them from the failing NHS.

According to The Telegraph, about 7.4 million people in the UK already have health insurance and this number is now on the increase. When faced with a mixed sex ward or a private room by yourself when you are ill, many opt for the latter. Moreover, the prospect of being treated instantly instead of waiting months to see a consultant and then more months for treatment is instantly attractive. Private health insurance offers choice and people are really beginning to understand the benefits associated with that choice.

With reports that the funding for the NHS is going to slow down after 2008, the increased demands of an expanding population, coupled with increasingly expensive drugs and procedures will not be able to be met. BUPA has produced a report illustrating that there will be an £11 billion gap in the funding of the NHS by 2015.

All of these factors are driving people to the conclusion that private health insurance is the way to go. Many are lucky enough to have employee health insurance via their work for themselves and their families. Indeed, the ABI state that about half of the number of people covered in the UK have insurance policies via their employer.