Dr Arun Thiyagarajan: 'We need to actually prevent illness, not just treat it'

Starting with prevention, then offering the right care at the right time is the key to moving the PMI market forward, writes Dr Arun Thiyagarajan, CEO for VitalityHealth.

Like many countries, the UK has seen a steady rise in the number of people living with chronic but preventable non-communicable diseases in recent years.

According to research by the Health Foundation, the number of people in England living with a major illness is set to reach 9.1 million by 2040 - almost one in five of the adult population – driven by rising conditions related to anxiety and depression, chronic pain and diabetes ¹.

The cost, both in terms of healthcare spending by the NHS, as well as the wider economic impact on the country, is running into the tens of billions.

Around 10% of the entire NHS budget for example is spent on diabetes – amounting to almost £10bn ² – while obesity costs around £6.5bn and is expected to rise to almost £10bn by 2050 ^3.

Meanwhile, the cost of lost productive time to the economy due to employee absenteeism and presenteeism caused by ill-health stands at £138bn annually, according to our most recent Britain’s Healthiest Workplace findings ⁴.

Moving health insurance forward

We’ve also seen the health insurance landscape fundamentally shift in recent years.

Demand for private medical insurance (PMI) has risen sharply and shows no signs of slowing down. Consumer attitudes and perceptions around private healthcare have also changed considerably and we see a broadening appeal, including amongst younger demographics.

It’s not just more people buying PMI too. More people are now using their cover and more frequently than in the past, particularly as the range of healthcare benefits available to them has expanded.

According to a consumer survey, 73% of health insurance customers report using their plan in the last year ⁵, whilst Vitality has recorded a 45% increase in members making a claim since 2019 ⁶.

Customers now rightly want more from their policy than just onward treatment and are increasingly looking for everyday health and wellbeing services like virtual GPs, physiotherapy and mental health support. These primary care services made up two thirds of all Vitality claims in 2023 ⁶.

At the same time, our industry is not immune from the impact of wider health challenges and these, alongside rising demand and wider increases in medical inflation, are combining to push up premium costs.

Taking health insurance to the next level

Balancing demand and helping to make people healthier is also about developing the right digital care pathways and early intervention measures, through more everyday care, alongside traditional PMI benefits.

It’s why as part of our Launch 2025 we also unveiled a number of game-changing enhancements to our health insurance products, which serve as a clear demonstration of Vitality’s unique shared value model in action: helping people to stay healthier, while ensuring they have access to the right support when they need it.

Our weight management pathway for example, available through Vitality Next Best Action for members who are obese or or are suffer from weight-related health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, now provides qualifying members with discounted access to medications Wegovy and Mounjaro.

As the first UK insurer to offer this as part of a PMI product and alongside further lifestyle support, we can help our members manage their weight in a way that is sustainable.

And because we know that the improvements members make to their health reduces their likelihood of claiming, we’ll reward them for completing the pathway by boosting their Vitality status all the way to Platinum.

Elsewhere, our proactive approach to mental healthcare has been enhanced through the availability of Wysa, an app-based digital mental health pathway, offering members confidential mental health assistance anytime, anywhere.

The support can be accessed through Care Hub, providing members with a seamless, digital journey that directs them to the most appropriate options, based on their individual needs.

These measures are a huge step forward and demonstrate how together, we can redefine what’s possible: through a truly preventative approach to healthcare, with the most efficient and streamlined pathways in place to drive long-term sustainability. Only through this can we meaningfully move the UK’s health forward as a market.

¹ Health in 2040: projected patterns of illness in England | The Health Foundation
² Cost of diabetes to UK estimated at £14 billion, research shows - News and events, University of York
³ The annual social cost of obesity in the UK | Frontier Economics 
⁴ '10 Years of Britain's Healthiest Workplace: The changing face of the UK at work' - Vitality, January 2025
⁵ Vitality and Opinium survey of 1,000 health insurance customers, May 2024
⁶ Vitality Health Claims Insights Reports 2024