The UK needs to hold to a national debate as to how it will meet the long term healthcare demands posed by an ever ageing population, according to Alex Perry, CEO of Bupa Insurance.
Perry, who was speaking at the Association of British Insurer’s annual conference, warned the answers to this question were not easy but the discussion needed to be held.
He highlighted that the UK has a fast ageing society and that the older a person gets, the more healthcare they use.
“If you just look at the trend on the numbers, what we spend on healthcare is going up, up and up,” Perry continued.
He emphasised that “in quite a short space of time”, it will account for a vast amount of the government budget.
“So there is going to have to be a big long term discussion about how we face into this and how we solve this as a country and the answers aren’t simple, but at the moment that discussion, that debate is not taking place,” he warned.