A flexible future for health cash plans
With UK companies now keen to proactively look after the health and wellbeing of their employees, health cash plans are ideally placed to deliver a solution. Their popularity with employers continues to rise, with research from LaingBuisson last year showing that the number of company paid cash plans increased by 3.5 times between 2007-2014.
Today there is a real desire for greater flexibility and more innovative solutions. Rather than standing still, the industry is always evolving to provide greater choice, personalisation and a growing range of health benefits and preventative services.
Bespoke & flexible health cash plans
Health cash plan providers now offer more choice than ever to meet different needs and budgets. There are plans to suit workforces of all different levels and sizes. Companies can also choose between an employer paid plan or a voluntary plan, which is paid for by employees through their payroll.
However the biggest change in recent years has been the increasing number of organisations looking for more flexible and bespoke solutions. This seems to be linked to auto-enrolment for pensions, which has led to many reviewing their wider health benefits.
Some want plans with optional upgrades that can easily slot into their flexible benefits platforms or voluntary benefits schemes. Others want to be in control and mix and match health benefits to create their own bespoke plan to meet their budget, priorities and the needs of their workforce.
Quick and simple one size fits all solutions are no longer the default choice. More organisations want to spend time looking at the different options to create one-off plans with tailored benefits, pricing and terms and conditions.
Flexible use
Employers want their employees to make the most of their health cash plan. So, providers now also offer greater flexibility in how they are used. Processes are being simplified and claims are getting quicker. Health cash plan providers are staying abreast of technology developments to ensure they can always offer the highest level of customer service and claims management both online and offline.
The needs of employees have never been more varied, and health cash plan suppliers continually respond by offering additional benefit options which are flexible and can be easily accessed across all kinds of channels including email, telephone, live chat, social media and the post.
It’s not just employees who want processes to be simpler and more flexible. Rather than having to manage lots of different offerings, employers want their health cash plans to sit seamlessly amongst their existing benefits platform. This is where a bespoke or modular scheme can really come into its own.
A flexible future
It isn’t easy to anticipate what health cash plans will be like in 2020. But I expect they will continue to evolve to offer greater flexibility and meet the needs of employees and employers while effectively managing conduct risk. I believe they will:
- Offer greater speed and flexibility with new technologies leading to faster claims and truly paperless systems.
- Become easier to use with more personalisation and digital communications speeding up support and processes.
- Enable organisations to tailor them in brand new ways while offering an even greater choice of health benefits and preventative benefits.
As the UK economy continues to pick up, it’s predicted that spending on healthcare will grow too. All the signs are that, by embracing new technologies, health cash plans can continue to be a useful resource for employers in the future, constantly evolving to fulfil the healthcare needs for all employees.
Philip Wood is executive director of sales and marketing at Health Shield.
This article was provided by Health Shield.
In partnership with Health Shield
At Health Shield we're passionate about improving people's everyday health.
