It’s easy to forget that 2022 was supposed to be the calm after the storm – still waters following the Covid crisis.
But it never materialised – 2022 has been a tale of the highest rates of inflation in years leading to a cost of living crisis, a blink and you’ll miss her prime minister and the passing of her Majesty the Queen after a summer in which the nation celebrated her diamond jubilee.
Our review of the year will cover all of these subjects and more – but we start off with the first quarter of 2022 in which the country was still feeling the effects of the pandemic, there was a Spring Statement and Health & Protection launched its first IPMI report.
January
At the start of the year we brought readers news of the latest long Covid figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The data showed at the time that the number of people suffering symptoms associated with long Covid for more than a year in the UK exceeded more than a half a million – up more than 15% in a little more than a month.
As the NHS continued to contend with rising wait times, the NHS in England entered into a three month agreement with 10 private healthcare providers including Spire, Nuffield and Circle to support the service if the Omicron variant led to unsustainable levels of hospitalisations or staff absences.
The month also saw Health & Protection launch our inaugural IPMI report which revealed Axa and Aetna International as the largest providers in IPMI sector.
February
February saw discussions about the potential merger of Royal London and LV= cease weeks after Bain Capital’s bid to buy LV= was voted down by shareholders. The pair of insurers released statements confirming the decisions to move on individually.
We also reported on Claire Ginnelly (pictured) leaving her position as executive director of Premier Choice Healthcare.
Thankfully, Ginnelly did not leave the sector entirely however, as she revealed she would be continuing her work as vice-chairwoman of the Association of Medical Insurers and Intermediaries.
March
In March, Legal & General warned it expected the UK protection market to shrink over the year after it reported record retail sales in 2021 driven by the busy housing market. Though this was a prediction that divided the advisers we spoke to.
Also in March, Russia invaded Ukraine leading to Willis Towers Watson and Marsh McLennan withdrawing operations from Russia. The first in a line of many organisations to do so.
And as the quarter came to an end, then-chancellor Rishi Sunak (more from him later in the year) was told he should have used his Spring Statement to incentivise private medical insurance to tackle record NHS wait times.
