April 4th, 2011
Employee Medical insurance has many benefits to both the employer and employee. The most important of these is reducing the number of days lost to sickness each year and getting the employee back to work more quickly because their treatment has been completed earlier than on the NHS. However, there are many misconceptions about group health insurance policies that may put bosses off from investing in something that can be very worthwhile for their businesses.
One of the most common mistakes is that managers believe all health insurance policies cost the same. This of course varies according to many factors, such as the general age and size of the workforce as well as the type of health cover. Cash plan medical insurance policies, like those offered by Freedom Healthnet, can work out more cost effective than traditional plans and give more choice to the employee. The employee can choose where they would like to receive their treatment, for instance. Traditional comprehensive medical insurance premiums can also vary wildly. This can depend upon the options that are selected and the excess that is chosen. Often by talking to the insurer, it is possible to work the cover so that it provides what is needed whilst maintaining an eye on costs.
Some business owners are led to think that they will have to use a broker in order to get the best deal for them, but this can be expensive and unnecessary. Quotes for private medical insurance are easily available online. If advice is needed, independent brokers are available to help for little or no cost. Freedom Healthnet, for example, is a direct insurer of comprehensive or cash plan medical cover and can provide the best price direct. Freedom can also do a market comparison so it can provide quotes from competitors and help your company to get the best premium and best insurer for them. This may or may not be Freedom.
On the other hand, some corporations think they know everything that there is to know about private medical insurance when in fact they are missing out on vital knowledge that could save them a lot of money. The industry is constantly changing and it is hard to keep up with the latest information with a busy business to run. It is worthwhile enquiring into a new quote regularly and taking advice from independent brokers, such as Healthnet Services to ensure that the company’s group health cover is both cost efficient and gives the most relevant benefits.
Find out more about employee medical cover and get a company insurance quote online or call 0800 999 2013 and quote ‘WEB’ to ask for a market comparison.
Tags: company medical cover, Company Medical Insurance, Employee Medical Insurance, freedom healthnet
Posted in Company Medical Insurance, Employee Health Insurance, Employee Medical Insurance | No Comments »
February 7th, 2011
Working for yourself brings many benefits but there are also drawbacks. When you work for a company you have rights. If you fall ill and you have been with a company for over a year you can get sick pay. If you work for yourself and you cannot manage your business or do the jobs you normally do then you are vulnerable. This is where health insurance comes in.
If you are self-employed and fall ill the most important factor is getting better as quickly as possible so that you can continue in your business. Relying on the NHS is not always the best possible way to achieve this. Waiting lists can be long and rehabilitation services can be patchy in many postcode areas.
Private medical insurance can help to speed things along. You can be seen as quickly as you need and assessed and booked in for any treatment or operation that you may require. In private health care waiting times are short. The standard targets for NHS waiting lists are 18 weeks. This is a long time when your medical condition is affecting the ability to work on your business to the best of your ability.
For some people having private health insurance can mean the difference between continuing with their business or having to throw in the towel particularly if cash flow has been tight. This applies in particular to self-employed people who do not have other employees. When you are the only person working on your business and you fall ill you may need to take time off. Loosing your business’ momentum and missing out on income can be a disaster for you and your family. Getting back to full health as quickly as possible is imperative.
An additional benefit to having medical insurance is the flexibility that it provides. Having health insurance also allows you to plan treatments around your work commitments. You can have appointments to suit your business needs. You don’t have to rely on hospital timetables. Additionally you will not have to waste valuable time sitting around in NHS waiting rooms when you would rather be working on your business.
Feedom Healthnet health insurance provide several policies that can help you stay on top of unexpected health problems if you are self-employed.
Tags: freedom healthnet, health insurance, health insurance self employed, medical insurance, private health care, Private Health Insurance
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February 3rd, 2011
Employee health insurance is well worth considering. Some employers believe that its something that is too expensive and do not even look into the possibility. However Freedom Healthnet provides cheap health insurance for companies looking to cover their employees in times of need. But what are the benefits of getting medical insurance for your staff?
1) Attract good staff
Attracting and keeping good staff is a mainstay in any business. Health cover is considered to be a very valuable perk when people are looking for new jobs. People with families are often particularly attracted when companies include partners and children in their medical insurance provision. It can provide the practical as well as psychological security that people want for themselves and their family.
Health cover provision suggests that a company is stable and willing to invest in the wellbeing of their staff. This is attractive to people looking for work.
2) Protect key staff members
Illness is an inevitable part of life. No one can guarantee good health at all times and all businesses suffer from absenteeism due to ill health. The problem for all businesses is that when key members of staff fall ill it can have a very detrimental effect. Staff have to be temporarily replaced or, as is most usual, other workers have to try and take up the slack. This is sometimes very difficult if the person who is ill has a very key role in the company. Sometimes their skills and knowledge prove very difficult to replace.
Employment laws quite rightly mean that a person’s job has to be held open until they are fit to return to work. What workers and their employees want is to get back to normal as soon as possible. Having health insurance means that you can help your staff to get seen and treated as quickly as possible.
3) Show people you care
Studies show that people who work in a caring environment are less likely to suffer from stress and illness. Responsible employers do everything within their power to make sure that their staff are as happy and comfortable in the workplace as possible. Having company health insurance can be part of this caring environment. It sends signals out to employees that the working environment is a two way thing.
Studies have shown that earning more money is not the only incentive for people to work for any particular company. One of the elements that motivate people is a feeling that they are ‘part of something.’ Having company health insurance in place shows that you are seeing your employees, not just as workers, but as individuals that have wider needs.
Tags: company health insurance, Employee Health Insurance, health cover, health insurance, medical insurance
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October 26th, 2010
Employee absenteeism has a great deal of impact on the economy, in fact, £100 billion a year. Lost man hours can cost large companies thousands of pounds and can be crippling for smaller companies. Employees cannot sack people for being sick but replacing staff that are away for long periods of time is expensive.
It is the above facts that led to the change from the old ’sick note’ to the new ‘fit note’ in April of this year. The new note is intended to help employees return to work and do what they are physically capable of doing rather than staying away until they are able to do everything within their job description. Unfortunately the latest statistics show that the new method is not really working.
Study results from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that the new fit note has not improved things greatly for places of work. The old sick notes declared an average of 85% of people as being unfit for work. The new ‘fit note’ has only decreased this by 5%.
Ironically line managers reported what where GPs had recommended adjustments in the work place this did help people to return to work more quickly.
One of the problems is that in some cases, depending on the job and the health problem, it can be very difficult to provide measured returns to normality at work. It is particularly important to note that GPs cannot possibly understand what is required of an employee in their jobs unless they spend time with their patients ascertaining exactly what their job requirements are. This takes time that GPs do not have and also entails that the GP place high degree of trust in the patient.
The most common reason for health related absenteeism are mental health issues. This is a difficult thing for GPs to accurately asses and also a difficult area to monitor and help with at work, so perhaps it is easier to either sign people off or keep them at home.
Gareth Williams, head of health, disability and work at the Department for Work and Pensions said that people tend to see the issue as a dichotomy. He said:
‘Too often there is an on/off switch if someone is ill they can’t work, and if they are well they can.’
GPs have been criticised for being too quick to sign a person off without taking into account the possibility of encouraging their staged return to work. Currently there is discussion about whether GPs should be released from making ‘return to work decisions’ in favour of nurses in occupational health roles. However this could lead to abuse both by patients and employers. Inexperienced nurses could be duped by unscrupulous employees who do not want to return to work and there could be pressure on nurses from employers to sign people back to work before they are ready.
In terms of the individual there is substantial evidence that returning to work can aid a person in their recovery as long as their return is managed well. The emotional support of colleagues and the extra self-esteem and contact that work can provide can be a challenge that is definately worth exploring.
Tags: fit note, sick note
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June 15th, 2010
The cash plan private health insurance market continued to grow even further throughout the recession according to the latest figures. In 2009, the cash plan sector made £570 million according to the statistics from Datamonitor. This meant the market grew a further 1.2 percent despite the effects of the economic downturn. Last year, figures astonished experts when it was revealed that the number of people with a cash plan private medical insurance policy reached a record level during the credit crunch. The success of this type of private medical insurance has been put down to the fact that it is a much cheaper alternative to traditional policies, sometimes cutting premiums by almost three quarters.
The affordability of cash plan policies has made them more attractive to companies in particular, according to Mahreen Hussein who wrote the report. These companies, who may have been looking to spread out their healthcare costs, or cut them down without cancelling their corporate health cover altogether, may have discovered cash plans as an attractive alternative. Not only are they much more cost effective, but they still carry the benefits associated with traditional private health insurance. In fact, Freedom’s policies provide access to a greater choice of hospitals than its rivals as it has no hospital lists. This means that patients have a near enough unlimited choice as to where they wish to be treated and may mean a quicker recovery if they are in a much more convenient location than they might have been otherwise. The Datamonitor report also stated that employee health cover will be a fundamental part of growth for the cash plan insurance sector in the coming years.
Tags: cash plan private medical insurance
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