Medical Insurance has for some time been recognised an important benefit for employers of all sizes. For many years it has been used as a tool for staff retention and recruitment; forming a core element of many employee benefits packages.

Today, purchasing medical insurance as a group is the most cost efficient way of purchasing cover; especially given the cost implications of personal policies.

It is classified as a P11d benefit and thereby taxable under current legislation, however it still saves between 20% 40% when compared to personal alternatives (if not more).

Additionally, if purchased as a group, you can often obtain a range of benefits which are difficult to acquire in the personal market for a reasonable cost. Executive style benefits often represent ‘full refund’ benefits and can also embrace other areas such as dental and travel cover as well.From an employer’s perspective, it is not simply a perk to offer your key staff or to tempt new blood to your organisation. Typically, it means less absenteeism and a healthier workforce – which should equate to a healthier company all over.

Recent research has indicated that PMI is on a close parallel to company pensions and staff feel it is both practical and comforting knowing that they can have a say as to where and when they receive treatment – should they require it.

However, as with many things, PMI is feeling the strain of constant price increases which has forced many insurers to look at new and innovative ways of providing company healthcare. A few years ago, there were fears that many smaller employers could be forced out of the market due to these constant, creeping increases; however the market has found that in the majority of cases, employers have been able to maintain a reasonable standard of cover by implementing a number of cost containing measures such as excesses, shared risk, claims management and offering a more holistic approach to company benefits...

   

Access to private healthcare or extra holidays have become more popular perks than a company car, according to latest research.
The survey of 100 workers and 400 staff by BT Home Computing found just 20 per cent of workers placed a company car in their list of top three benefits.
By comparison, healthcare was felt to be the top benefit by 41 per cent of those polled and extra holiday by 23 per cent.
Nine out of 10 of those polled said they considered the benefits on offer when deciding whether to accept a job.