The Demand for Private Medical Insurance in the UK: A Cohort Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the determinants of the demand for private health insurance in the United Kingdom from 1978 to 1996 using a pseudo‐cohort panel. The focus is on the impact of public and private sector quality, generational change, and past purchase on demand. The results indicate that there has been generational change in buying behaviour, that the number of senior doctors employed in the public sector impacts upon demand for the private alternative, and that there is limited impact of habit in purchase. Changes to the structure of labour contracts in the NHS may affect demand for the private alternative.