Should you take out private health insurance?

As the NHS struggles, more people are paying for private health insurance. But is it worth it?

Woman staring into the distance, presumably contemplating taking out private health insurance
One potential perk of private medical insurance is a room to yourself
(Image credit: © Getty Images)

The NHS is creaking. A record 5.6 million people are on waiting lists for treatment in England, a number that could hit 14 million in a year, says Kate Hughes in The Independent. Faced with long waiting times, more people are going private. Only 13% of Britons had private medical insurance (PMI) before the pandemic, but a “stampede” among younger buyers has taken the average age of those taking out policies down from 40 to just 33 over the past year.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up
Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.