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27/02/2017
The cost to UK companies of providing medical care to staff continues to vastly outpace inflation according to new figures from Mercer and Marsh. Medical costs in the UK are set to increase by 6.5% in 2016 against inflation of 0.8%. Europe as a whole was the region with the lowest levels of forecast medical inflation, at 7.8%, compared with forecast rises of 12.8% for Latin America and 11.5% in Asia.
Cost increases are being driven by non-communicable diseases, including those related to ‘lifestyle choices’ such as smoking, poor diet and a lack of physical activity.
Graham Pearce, partner at Mercer said:
‘We believe that, quite frankly, a medical cost inflation rate close to three times that of overall inflation is just not sustainable. It is therefore of the utmost importance that employers become much more serious about “bending the trend” with a long-term healthcare strategy.’