Dawn Prescott
|Head of Healthcare Proposition
At the start of 2026, we introduced a series of enhancements to our NHS cash benefit. The aim was to make the benefit easier to use and provide greater value for members receiving treatment through the NHS. Six months on, our data suggests those enhancements are having an impact.
Between January and June 2026, we paid £786,644 in NHS cash benefits, compared with £426,600 during the same period in 2025. That's an increase of 84.4% year-on-year.
Over the same period, the number of claims paid for this benefit increased from 209 to 323, representing a 54.5% rise.
During the first half of 2025, the average NHS cash benefit claim was around £2,041. During the same period in 2026, that figure increased to approximately £2,435 per claim, an uplift of around 19%.
Taken together, these figures suggest that more members are making use of the benefit and that the enhancements introduced in January are helping deliver greater value.
A reminder of what's changed
The enhancements introduced from 1 January 2026 were designed to strengthen the support available to members and make the benefit simpler to understand and use. They included:
- Increasing the inpatient NHS cash benefit from £150 to £250 per night
- Introducing a £150 per day NHS day-patient benefit for eligible treatments
- Removing the excess deduction
- Allowing members to use the benefit across both inpatient and day-patient treatment pathways
- Applying an annual cap, which varies by product, with a maximum of £10,000
Demonstrating value in practice
Six months on, the data suggests the enhancements are achieving their intended purpose, with more members using the benefit and more value being delivered through it. For advisers, this is a useful reminder of the practical role NHS cash benefit can play within a health insurance policy.
MKTG850 | September 2026