How Much Does Group Income Protection Cost?
Question asked by Ms H White
We are considering setting up a Business Health Insurance scheme for our staff. We want them covered for any treatment necessary.
To ensure our workers can obtain cover for existing medical conditions I wanted to know how large the scheme needs to be before you can apply for medical history disregarded underwriting?
Medical history disregarded (MHD) is the best Health Insurance underwriting. It means that, regardless of an employee’s medical history and any health conditions they’ve suffered from, the policy will cover them for treatment of any eligible condition.
You usually need around 20-25 employees to set up Group / Business Health Insurance scheme on a medical history disregarded (MHD) basis. However, this varies from insurer to insurer.
It is worth noting that the insurers typically charge around £20-25 more for an MHD scheme over one underwritten on a moratorium basis.
This is because a medical history disregarded scheme carries more risk and a higher claims ratio given that pre-existing conditions would be covered.
So, while it’s the best underwriting available, this is reflected in the premiums.
It’s important to note that insurers usually restrict ‘eligible conditions’ under a Health Insurance policy to acute conditions only. Acute conditions are those doctors can treat which then pass.
This is opposed to chronic conditions, such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease. Doctors cannot cure these conditions, only manage them. Not even MHD underwriting covers the ongoing treatment and management of chronic conditions.