Corporate healthcare has changed beyond all recognition in the last few years. Once a benefit exclusively reserved for ‘key staff’, many organisations now extend the reward of healthcare to all their employees and even family members. Not only are more people covered but the range of healthcare benefits on offer has also widened to include a range of preventative measures such as online GPs and health screenings. As well as this, access to mental health services has become increasingly important and is now considered essential alongside the more traditional ‘lumps and bumps’ coverage.
Finally, technology has enabled easy access not only to online consultations and therapy treatment when and where the employee needs them but also promoting a healthier workforce by providing information and advice on a huge range of issues, from healthy eating to exercise and fitness programmes.
These services are constantly changing as suppliers vie to offer the most comprehensive range of appropriate and effective benefits that can flex to suit all budgets and sizes of organisation. This means it’s often tricky to keep up with what’s out there, increasing the need to re-evaluate what is currently offered in terms of healthcare benefits, to make sure that you keep abreast of the latest developments.
Assessing your own healthcare needs
A good starting point is to find out what your organisation’s outlook towards healthcare benefits is. Some place a priority on looking after their teams, and their families too. For others, understanding the improvement in productivity or recruitment/retention are key. It’s also important not to forget the health needs of your workforce, which will often vary significantly based on their age, their job role and whether or not they have children (amongst many other things).
Asking the right questions and understanding the needs of your employees is a good starting point in being able to craft and design an effective benefits package which meets the purpose of your healthcare strategy.
Technology is now enabling greater tailoring of packages. This enables you to pick and mix the benefits best suited to your employees. Some may see mental health as more significant in their lives right now, whereas for others, benefits like physiotherapy may be more important. Different life stages will dictate different packages. Does your supplier have the flexibility to meet the trend for increasingly bespoke healthcare packages, for today and into the future?
WPA is more flexible than most, with its Precision Corporate Healthcare plan offering the Group Deductible option (unique to UK health insurance) – in effect a company-level excess. For companies with more than 30 employees, it’s an intelligent way to fund your company's health insurance scheme by reducing costs, but not benefits, with no additional risk. What's more, reflecting WPA’s not-for-profit background, if claims are less than the 30% deductible the customer gets the difference back as a rebate.
Sounding out your suppliers – five key questions
So just how should you start to re-assess your healthcare benefits and find the best supplier for your company? Here are five suggestions to help:
1. Don’t just buy on price
A competitive price might look attractive but you need to check if that comes with a cost – namely poor service. If you are going to have to pick up the pieces because service delivery is not up to expectation, then that ‘competitive price’ might start to look less like a bargain and more like a burden.
2. What are others saying?
As a consumer you’re always going to look beyond the marketing and sales pitch; in business it should be no different so check what others are saying about the supplier. Reviewing sites such as Trustpilot is a good place to start, as is ensuring that your understanding is echoed by Which? magazine. Insurers are regulated by the FCA – so check their site and that of the ombudsman. Keep in mind that the larger the insurer, the more business they do, so the likelihood is they’ll have a higher number of complaints. Seek out comparable data, such as complaints per thousand customers.
3. Take them for a ‘test drive’
How good are they at meeting their service standards? If you can, try them out – and take them for a ‘test drive’ by seeing how easy it is to get through to them. Excessive call waiting times are unacceptable, often distracting employees from their day job. Do support teams use scripts or guides? Is the sales literature and webpages easy to follow and understand? These things are not conclusive but they do provide a peek into the supplier’s DNA and how far they are committed to meeting the highest standards.
4. Does their tech deliver?
Technology and especially apps are at the heart of so many healthcare schemes. But do those apps really work the way they promised? Also consider whether your proposed supplier looks after its own employees as well as you’d like them to. Will working with them improve your productivity? These are important questions to ask.
5. Are they up front?
If you are working with a third-party or intermediary, what’s your understanding of the relationship between them and the final supplier? Is it fees- or commission-based? Are there other agreements in play behind the scenes? You need to know before you can make an honest and open assessment.
Happy and healthy = productive and focused
Happy employees are 12% more productive (University of Warwick) so, with the challenges of the NHS, there has never been a more important time to invest in the health and wellbeing of your workforce. Hardly a day goes by without more stories about the potential damage done by presenteeism, stress and poor health, both physical and mental. That damage goes directly to the bottom line of any organisation so, whatever the benefits, measure the values. Happy and healthy employees are more productive and more focused on their jobs and their long-term career aspirations, so it makes perfect sense to focus on the most valued benefits.
It also pays to get the right programme for you and your people – both in terms of the quality of service and the best value for your organisation. Get it right and the benefits really will flow for you, your teams and your business.
Charlie MacEwan, corporate communications director, WPA Health Insurance
To find out more about what WPA could do for your organisation’s health and wellbeing, visit wpa.org.uk.
