42 Feature – cash plans
care,” reports National Friendly’s Castling. “There is definitely room for broadening the scope of benefit and as a provider we need to be careful that they are relevant provisions and we are not putting on more and more benefits.” Although keen to respond to broker
demand, Castling believes it is important not to lose sight of the value of core benefits. “We must look at whether people are going to use benefits we provide,” he says. “The most relevant and used are dental, optical and physio. For us as an insurer we have a fairly limited benefits [schedule] – six categories – but we believe strongly they are the most relevant.”
Westfield’s Davies agrees that demand for core benefits is strong, notwithstanding reported improvements in access to NHS dentistry.
“If you can get people to have dental checkups and eye checkups you can have an early indicator of ill-health,” she points out. “For example, if you can catch sight loss early then you can prevent it from escalating. There is still a really big demand for the core of what we do.”
Medicash’s Weir agrees with Davies that cash plan providers are well-placed to promote preventative healthcare. “We believe that in the longer term
people do save money by investing in their healthcare,” she says. “Dental care cover for example is a key area which saves people money and potentially reduces the burden on the NHS – in no way do plans undermine the healthcare system – rather they play a major part in easing the strain the NHS is under whilst providing employers’ families and individuals with real peace of mind.”
SUPPLEMENTARY INSURANCE IN CANADA
Canada has a publicly-funded healthcare system
65% of Canadians have some form of supplementary private health insurance
This is mainly offered through employers who enjoy significant tax advantages for offering it.
Benefits include dentistry, long-term and rehabilitative care, home care, alternative drugs and prescription drugs not publicly covered
With two-thirds of pharmaceutical expenditure privately financed, 38% of private pharmaceutical expenditure is paid for by supplementary health insurance and 68% is paid out of pocket
Most provinces in Canada forbid private health insurers from covering any medically necessary hospital, inpatient and outpatient physician services which are provided by the publicly financed system.
Source: OECD HealthInsurance
65% of Canadians have some form of supplementary private health insurance
SUPPLEMENTARY INSURANCE IN THE NETHERLANDS
Social insurance is used to fund healthcare in the Netherlands
93% of the socially insured public have supplementary insurance
Insurers often sell both a social insurance plan and supplementary coverage
Insurers offering supplementary health insurance can refuse to accept applicants or charge higher rates based upon their health status. This can make it difficult to switch social insurers and purchase a reasonably priced supplementary package if your risk status changes
Supplementary insurance is a way of life in the Netherlands
In some cases health insurance providers react to what is available from the social insurance fund. For example, they promptly covered dental benefits in supplementary health insurance plans after they were delisted from the social insurance benefits list.
Source: OECD SUPPLEMENTARY OR COMPLEMENTARY?
Unlike private medical insurance which is designed to duplicate the NHS offering, cash plans may complement the NHS or supplement it. This is an important distinction to make:
Complementary cover: private insurance that complements coverage of publicly insured services or services within principal / substitute health insurance, which is intended to pay only a proportion of qualifying care costs, by covering all or part of the residual costs not otherwise reimbursed (eg co-payments)
Supplementary care: private health insurance that provides cover for additional health services not covered by the public scheme. Depending on the country, it may include services that are uncovered by the public system or superior hotel and amenity hospital services.
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Private Health Insurance in OECD Countries
EMPLOYERS ROLE
Abroad, supplementary health insurance is often funded by employers, in some countries with generous support from the Government. For example, it has been estimated that if the Canadian Government removed its employer subsidies, levels of supplementary health insurance would fall by 20%. Could the UK Government follow suit? Weir believes that in the current climate
such incentives are “unlikely” but reports that the corporate sector is “without a doubt” where Medicash sees the most growth potential. “We know from existing customers
and current prospects that employers are increasingly seeing the value of cash plans and, in a difficult economic climate their popularity will rise further,” she says. “Pay rises are often not a sustainable option and employers need to find cost-effective intelligent solutions to ensure they retain good staff and adopt measures to boost morale, enhance staff wellbeing and reward loyalty. Cash plans are recognised as an ideal mechanism for this and, where benefits such as stress counselling and onsite health screening are included, are highly rated by employers.”
MacEwan believes that there is going to be “more of a push upon employers to contribute to costs”, but through a focus on what they can gain from investment in health, rather than through Government financial support.
“Research is being conducted to measure return on investment,” he says. “By engaging employees you get them to
www.hi-mag.com April 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48