Pandemic increased willingness to self-pay – but cost of living crisis will decrease it
In this week’s infographic we look at survey data collected by strategy consultancy L.E.K. that was presented at HBI 2022. The data suggests that willingness to pay privately increased as a result of the pandemic, but could be about to decrease due to the cost of living crisis.
L.E.K.’s Katya Zubareva gave some fascinating insight into the emergence of affordable private care. There is a lack of publicly-funded capacity across many countries, including poorer Eastern European countries which have less comprehensive universal coverage, but also richer countries whose NHS systems are under increasing strain since the pandemic, such as the UK and Spain. On top of this, PMI is expensive and penetration is low. This is increasing patients’ willingness to pay out of pocket, as demonstrated by a survey L.E.K. carried out last year, the results of which are displayed above.
However, another L.E.K. survey from this year found that significant portions of people would decrease their spending on self-funded care in the face of an economic crisis.
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