5 Reasons Businesses Should Provide Company Health Insurance

1 :: Support Employees & Their Families

All workers want to feel as though they are valued by their employers; it’s why so many employers offer employee benefits to begin with.

Group Health Insurance allows employees to receive private treatments quickly, in comfort and with more control over their treatment is a hugely positive benefit to offer.

Of employees who took part in our 2018 employee benefits survey, health was a concern: 29.8% worried about either their physical or mental health. This can have a serious impact on their ability to work, but a Company Health Insurance scheme can help lessen the problem by offering fast, effective treatment for any concerning conditions.

Some employers choose to allow employees to add their families to the policy. This means that employees’ spouses and children can have private medical treatments covered as well, which may be comforting for the 33.3% of employees who are regularly stressed about their family.

2 :: Helping to Make Your Employees Healthier

A healthy workforce has benefits that go far beyond simply a reduction of absences. Better management of physical and mental health leads to improved productivity and a generally happier working environment.

Business Health Insurance can benefit employees’ health in a number of other ways, largely through the extra services that come with the policy. These might include:

• Access to an online information hub – typically providing resources, guidance and advice on healthy living as well as different medical conditions and their treatments
• Consultants and coaches – provides support to employers and employees to help organisations place focus on better health, including insights and strategies to promote higher levels of activity in the workforce and promote better occupational health
• Optional add-ons – extras such as mental health cover is one of the most valuable optional extras you can bolt on to a policy because it is unlikely employees would be able to receive this types of treatment on the NHS without spending months on a waiting list
• Discounted gym memberships – some providers offer cut-price gym memberships at considerably reduced rates, encouraging employees to join a gym, boost their fitness and ultimately their health
• Access to fitness trackers – certain providers off employees access to technology that tracks fitness, such as exercise routines or steps per day.

3 :: Reduce Employee Sickness & Absence

One of the main motivations for purchasing Health Insurance is that it is able to drastically speed up diagnosis and treatment. NHS waiting lists could be weeks or even months long, which means that people can be left for a long time to deal with their conditions. This could lead to increased time off work to manage a condition, particularly if it’s painful and / or distressing.

If a situation arises and an employee develops a health condition that prevents them from working, it’s possible that they could be forced to spend weeks or even months out of work before they have even begun receiving treatment.

In comparison, if they were covered by a Group Health Insurance policy they can start arranging private treatment as soon as they get an official diagnosis and referral. The flexibility of private care also means that they can arrange the treatments around their schedule.

For employers, the fast and flexible nature of a Health Insurance policy helps them reduce long-term absences in the workplace while employees don’t have to worry about their sick pay running out while they wait for the treatments they need.

4 :: Covers Treatments Not Covered by the NHS

Certain treatments and drugs aren’t always available through the NHS because of the cost. However, some Private Health Insurance offers these treatments that you otherwise might have to pay for yourself.

There are certain drugs or experimental treatments that the NHS may not pay for, but these could be covered under a Group Health Insurance scheme with the right level of cover. For example, certain cancer related drugs can be particularly expensive and the NHS may not always be able to afford them, but certain Health Insurance policies have special added cover to cover these drugs if the NHS won’t.

Some Health Insurance policies also provide access to therapies the NHS rarely, if at all, provides, such as acupuncture and osteopathy.

Knowing that they have greater access to different treatments can be a source of comfort for employees. If standard treatments don’t work as well as hoped, there are other options to consider.

5 :: Improve Employee Retention & Recruitment

Employee benefits aren’t just for the people already in your workforce. They also serve the purpose of attracting new talent and setting up expectations of your business. A great employee benefits package can help you recruit high-quality additions to your workforce as well as help you keep hold of them.

44.1% of the UK SME workforce would like to see employee benefits that help manage their health and wellbeing, yet as few as 12.63% of employers offer Private Health Insurance to their employees. This means that employers which do choose to place a priority on their employees’ health may have a good advantage that makes them stand out in the eyes of job seekers.

Group Health Insurance policies have a lot of options that allow employers to expand cover or reduce premiums.

For help finding the right policy for your workforce and to compare accurate quotes from the top UK providers, contact us on 02074425880.

Nadeem Farid
Head of Employee Benefits