HC Deb 03 March 1981 vol 1000 c89W
Mr. McCrindle

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of the population are covered by private health insurance schemes in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, respectively.

Dr. Vaughan

About 5 percent. of the population in the United Kingdom, 43 per cent, in France and 29 percent. in Germany were covered by some form of private health insurance in 1979. However, the function of private insurance differs between the three countries and these figures are not therefore strictly comparable. In Germany, about 8 per cent. of the population require private insurance because they are not eligible for or are not compulsorily members of the main State social insurance scheme; the remainder purchase private cover to provide extras—for example single room—over and above provision within the State scheme. In France, private health insurance is used mainly to cover the cost of charges levied within the compulsory State social insurance scheme. The proportion of total health expenditure financed from private health insurance in 1979 was 5 percent. in Germany, 3.6 percent. in France—1976—and about 1 per cent. in the United Kingdom.