Surging Private Healthcare Prices Make Rich Families Move Elsewhere

Health-Related Expenditures Are Becoming a Major Factor in Migration Decisions

Many wealthy families are already deciding to move to other places, not because of the taxes or the lifestyle, but because of the expenses of private healthcare. An insightful report from Henley & Partners, a company that specializes in the investment, migration sector, shows how the health care cost factor is rewriting the rules of the global luxury mobility game. The overall interest in residence or citizenship programs was 43 percent higher in the first nine months of 2025 than in the corresponding period of 2024. This implies that more people belonging to 92 different nationalities have started considering relocation as an option.

Though lifestyle and taxation are still important, the research revealed that health care expenses are the main reason that families become indubitably the most worried ones – those with elderly relatives, children, or even those planning for medical treatments abroad. Maintaining the quality of life through private care can be a major factor whether a region can still be affordable for wealthy families or not.

Private Health Care Expenses Vary a Great Deal Worldwide

It is worldwide a big phenomenon; in different countries, the private health care costs can be quite different. The SIP Medical Family Office Health Cost Index, which is explained in the report as the only comprehensive study of private healthcare expenses of the wealthy expatriates in 50 countries, unveils very notable disparities. In 2025, the US is the most expensive with average private insurance premiums of about US$18,000 per person annually.

Hong Kong is the next most expensive country with a figure of slightly more than US$16,100, and after that, there is Singapore with a little over US$14,200. There are a few Asian countries that were considered affordable in the past, for instance, China, Thailand, and Taiwan but they have all been ranked among the most expensive private-health-care markets because of the ever-increasing demand for first-class hospital care.

Moreover, the expenses seem fairly low in some other nations: those located in Africa and Latin America,  e.g., Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco – are considerably more budget-friendly and at the same time, provide good quality care. In fact, Morocco is named as a country with the lowest private-health care cost in the database at nearly US$6,251 per year.

Migration of Wealth Reflects Healthcare Risk Management

For wealthy globally mobile families, relocation is no more a matter of lifestyle or tax considerations alone but rather of healthcare risk management. Given a chance to decide on the next place they will live, these families first of all demand access to top, quality and dependable care, elderly parents or children, in particular, may be the most vulnerable. Given such a situation, Christian H. Kaelin, the chairman of Henley & Partners- says “Mobility worldwide becomes a key component of a risk-management strategy.”

In areas where private care is really accessible only to a few or the quality is less than perfect, families are moving towards countries where health care is both cheap and trustworthy. This very silent movement has become a major factor in changing international migration patterns.

Impact on the Countries and Their Private Health Systems

The results indicate a possible relocation of wealthy people from expensive healthcare countries that depend on private insurance, like the US. In addition to potential newcomers being put off by high private, care costs, already existing wealthy households may even be motivated to leave the area and move somewhere else.

However, regions combining good quality and reasonable prices may experience a rise in the number of wealthy immigrants searching for more value for their money. This, in turn, can bring up their demand, investments, and the inflow of the private healthcare sector.

Government officials should also be mindful of how rising medical costs can affect individual households and cause residency shifts as well. For countries that want to attract or retain affluent residents, providing affordable and good quality healthcare might become a winning ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌strategy.