Sainsbury's Bank is to enter the health insurance market with a ‘complementary health insurance' concept. It said the new product would provide more cover than a cash plan, but be cheaper than a traditional PMI product.
The bank said the Health Cover product would provide cover for those treatments that traditionally have long waiting times on the NHS.
Health insurance manager Mark Sim said the new offering would cover private diagnoses as well as over 900 treatments, stripping out cover for those where the NHS service was comparable or better than that available in the private sector.
“Our policy complements the NHS by addressing today's healthcare concerns and gives people a new choice. We believe it will attract many people back into health cover,” he said.
Sainsbury's Bank said the Health Cover product would also include a 24-hour counselling service, with phones manned by doctors and nurses.
As a typical example, a single female aged 32 would pay just £28.46 a month for Sainsbury's Bank Health Cover, it said.
