Group Private Medical Insurance
What is Group Private Medical Insurance?
This is a medical insurance policy taken out by an employer and offered to eligible employees. An employer will offer the group private medical insurance for a variety of reasons including regulatory, as a recruitment or retention tool and to aid the health of the company by ensuring the staff get the medical treatment they need and at a convenient time.
Employees are an expensive asset and anything such as illness that can adversely affect their attendance, or their productivity, needs to be addressed quickly.
Cover can be arranged in various ways depending on the company size and budget. The most common approaches are to take out an insurance policy with a medical provider, or for larger groups, a self-funded scheme can be established, managed by a specialist administrator. Extensive tailoring of schemes to suit the particular needs of the company is possible, with different benefits or various levels of cover, arranged to fit in with a corporate hierarchy.
Funding of the premiums can be on a fully insured or self-funded basis or a combination often building in profit share schemes to encourage responsibility. They are usually reviewed annually when the rates for the year ahead are negotiated, taking into account medical inflation and claims experience, depending on the type of policy.
Why should a company take out a Private Medical policy?
A private medical policy will provide prompt access to specialist diagnosis and treatment, ensuring that any required absences from work are minimised.
The provision of good quality private medical cover also demonstrates to employees that they are valued by the company. It has been shown that most employees perform best when in a stress-free environment, where they feel that if something goes wrong they would be taken care of.
To further strengthen this “feel good factor”, private medical plans are often extended to include discounts from a range of lifestyle benefits such as gym memberships and spa breaks. It is often possible to add cover for family members to take advantage of attractive group rates. This additional cover may be at the employees’ expense.
In some countries, the cost of providing Group Private Medical Insurance may be offset against local tax-liabilities making it an even more attractive and valuable component of an employee benefit package.
What does a Group Private Medical scheme cover?
Unless restricted by regulations a scheme usually includes a wide range of benefits designed to suit the company’s specific needs and the local market in which they operate. In essence, the private medical cover protects the firm and its employees against costs arising from unforeseen medical issues. The objective is to return the affected employee, as quickly as possible, to the state of health that existed before the medical episode occurred.
Key elements of cover are
- In hospital treatment
- Diagnostic procedures and tests
- Medical practitioner and specialist treatment
- Rehabilitation and outpatient care
- Cancer care – paid in full no matter whether the care is as an inpatient or outpatient
- Complications of maternity – viewed as any other illness
How can we arrange Group Private Medical cover?
By working closely with our clients and understanding their needs. Sovereign Insurance Services will offer a value added and pioneering solution using their vast experience and market knowledge. They will then provide the most appropriate package for the client taking all aspects into consideration when putting forward any proposal.
