It hasn’t needed a general election to convince people that we have an NHS crisis. And, whilst politicians are busy making their usual promises, no-one should be holding their breath.
The NHS queue is still over 7.5 million strong, and well over three million in it have been waiting over 18 weeks for treatment – with over 300,000 waiting for over a year. *
Furthermore, NHS dentistry is arguably faring even worse, with thousands of dentists having left the service or significantly reduced their involvement with it since the pandemic.
With many people now unable to find an NHS dentist, stories about DIY experimenters pulling out their own teeth have been abounding in the media. Isn’t this only supposed to happen in third world countries?
Not surprisingly, we have been experiencing a marked increase in conversations with clients about providing their employees with healthcare benefits.
But the costs of private medical insurance (PMI) or even stand-alone dental insurance do not always fall within their budgets.
In such cases we are increasingly suggesting that they consider health cash plans, which can provide a valuable half-way house between having full-blown private cover and relying on a broken state system.
The major attraction of cash plans is their affordability, as they can provide worthwhile levels of cover for as little £5 per employee per month.
Indeed, we have often implemented schemes that have been funded entirely by the savings we have realised from introducing salary exchange on a client’s pension scheme.
The modest premium levels also mean that the fact that the product constitutes a P11D liability for employees is never an issue, because the tax amounts involved are so small.
What is covered?
Cash plans don’t cover expensive operations, but they can help towards a range of minor medical costs. These normally include: private specialist consultations and diagnostic tests, routine dental check-ups and treatment, optical check-ups and new glasses, and a range of alternative therapies like physiotherapy, osteopathy, chiropractic and chiropody.
Different providers can vary quite significantly for other benefits, but they can incorporate everything from small cash amounts for those undergoing hospital inpatient stays to second opinion services and gym discounts.
Added-value features like virtual GP services, employee assistance programmes (EAPs) and digital wellbeing services are also now creating further appeal.
The dental component, which covers both NHS and private treatment, is proving by far the most popular, and accounts for around a third of all cash plan claims.
Although the dental limits are more restrictive than those of stand-alone dental cover, the payouts can still make a useful contribution towards some of the more routine costs like check-ups and fillings.
But employees are also extensively claiming under many of the other areas of cover, and the virtual GP service is the most highly rated and most used of the added-value features.
Increasing popularity
Not surprisingly, there has been a clear upward trend in the provision of cash plans, which increased by 14.5% during 2023 over 2022, and more than 1.6 million employees are now covered on an employer-paid basis.
No-one is pretending that these products can meet all a workforce’s healthcare needs but they can certainly be a good place to start for those with the smallest budgets.
As the company grows it may then wish to go a stage further and introduce PMI and/or dental insurance. Cash plans are very straightforward to claim on and have a high perceived value amongst employees because, although the benefit payment amounts are small, the range of expenses covered is extremely broad. So, this can be positive for morale and recruitment and retention.
Don’t forget also that the optical cover can be important for helping to meet legal requirements to fund eye tests and, if prescribed, glasses, for staff who use visual display units.
But there are a wide range of cash plan schemes available, with different cover features and pricing structures, so it’s important to seek guidance from an expert intermediary.
If you would like to learn more about how Chase de Vere can help you chose a cash plan scheme most suited to your company’s needs, then please don’t hesitate to contact your Chase de Vere Consultant.
Source
* NHS backlog data analysis (bma.org.uk)
Content correct at the time of writing.