For UK private medical consultants
Your insurer fee rates have not kept pace with medical inflation for years
With UK medical inflation running steadily year on year, static rates mean a steady real-terms pay cut. Most consultants accept this because they assume rates are fixed. They are not.
Two minutes. Solva follows up with specific negotiation and rate review options.
- Consultants accepting insurer fee schedules without question
- Increasing workload to maintain income levels
- Frustration with declining real-terms income despite increasing demand for private healthcare
- Reluctance to take on patients from certain insurers due to unviable fee rates.
- Increased administrative burden for practices managing complex fee schedules and potential shortfalls
- Reduced investment in practice development or new technologies due to constrained revenue
- Significant erosion of consultant's real-terms income and profitability
- Increased risk of consultant shortfalls, leading to unexpected patient bills and potential non-payment
- Damage to consultant-insurer relationships due to persistent fee disputes
- Negative perception among patients if unexpected shortfalls occur
- The primary root cause is the power imbalance between large private medical insurers (PMIs) and individual consultants, often exacerbated by consultants' lack of negotiation training or market data.
- Historically, PMIs have systematically undervalued clinical services, relying on consultants' passive acceptance of fee schedules.
- Additionally, anti-competitive regulations previously prevented collective fee negotiation, further entrenching individual consultants' weaker bargaining position.
No verified UK data available for average 12-18% improvement from negotiation. However, consultant pay in England was 26% lower in real terms in 2023 compared to 17 years prior (BMA, 2023).
How to fix it
A structured fee negotiation approach, benchmarking your rates against the market, understanding the insurer's incentives, and knowing your walk-away position, changes the dynamic significantly.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
Most consultants accept insurer rates passively. Insurers rely on this. Rates are negotiable in most cases, and recognition withdrawal threats are often a tactic rather than a final decision.
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
No specific UK quantified cost implication for stagnant fees. However, medical inflation in the UK has averaged around 7% over 2018 and 6% for 2019 (Milliman, 2019), eroding real-terms income.
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.