How reward leaders are tackling rising PMI costs - insights from REBA Acumen

Private Medical Insurance (PMI) design is changing and as premiums continue to rise, reward leaders are having to make difficult decisions about how to balance affordability, access, and employee expectations.

 

PMI remains one of the most valuable benefits for employees - and one of the fastest-growing costs for employers. 

To uncover how organisations are responding, the first REBA Acumen report - Managing Private Medical Insurance Costs (August 2025) - dived into the strategies senior reward leaders are using right now to tackle these challenges head-on.

What the report covers

The report brings together insights from senior reward and benefits leaders in the REBA Acumen network, uncovering:

• How PMI premiums are changing - and the biggest cost drivers
• How employers are redesigning plans, cover levels, excesses and eligibility
• Trends in employee usage and opt-out rates
• PMI design changes being considered by employers
• How PMI design is set to evolve over the next few years
• The wider impact on wellbeing, preventative care and related benefits.

REBA Acumen reports are:

• Closed-group and subscriber-driven: Topics are led by Acumen subscribers themselves, focusing only on their most pressing priorities
• Fast-turnaround: Designed to deliver topical insights when they are needed most
• Exclusive to the network: Accessible only to REBA Acumen subscribers
• Ready to re-use: Clear charts and graphics designed to slot straight into your internal reports and board papers
• Effortless to explore: Ask Acumen - your AI search assistant - takes the legwork out of research. Use this safe, closed-group tool to surface the insights most relevant to you from a growing, trusted library of reports.

This means the PMI report doesn’t just reflect what’s happening across the market - it captures the current, practical actions employers are taking right now too.

Part of the REBA Acumen toolkit

The PMI report is available exclusively to REBA Acumen subscribers. It forms part of a service that combines surveys, a powerful AI information tool and access to a human network of hundreds of senior reward directors to help you make confident decisions, faster. 

Already, leaders from organisations including BBC, Hilton, Lloyd’s, Rolls Royce, Sitecore, Teneo and Wolseley are already using REBA Acumen to share insights and exchange knowledge. If you’d like to access the PMI report and join them, you can find out more here.