moneyCS Healthcare has announced the launch of a new health insurance plan designed to ‘bridge the gap’ and connect people working in the public sector with quality private health insurance and quicker access to treatments.

NHS England Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, forecast a £30bn funding gap by the year 2020 in his ‘Five Year Forward View’ blueprint and against this backdrop the mutual friendly society CS Healthcare has chosen to set up HealthBridge.

Mark Rothery, Chief Executive Officer at CS Healthcare, said: "It seems likely more of us may turn to the private sector in the future. Our research confirms that significant numbers are happy to consider lower-cost options – cover with a more limited range of benefits, but which still addresses the areas where the NHS is less able to deliver – in an attempt to bridge the gap and connect with more affordable health insurance. We believe the Plan delivers quality cover at a premium within people’s reach and sets a new benchmark in this sector of the market."

The new Plan has been designed in conjunction with the Society’s members on the back of a series of research forum groups and two phases of qualitative research, which revealed that 44% of respondents would either start paying for PMI if services do not improve, or would want to even if they could not presently afford it.

With policy benefits of up to £15,000 per person per policy year, HealthBridge provides members with quick access to diagnostic tests, treatment and surgery while avoiding potentially lengthy NHS waiting times. The Plan will cover a scheme member for some of the most expensive procedures, such as hip replacement surgery (£12,500).

CS Healthcare has been providing private medical insurance to Civil Servants since 1929, and today serves the needs of those working in (or who have worked in) the public sector (including Emergency Workers), charitable or not-for-profit organisations, privatised organisations, and their families.