The Benefits of Group Medical Insurance

Group Medical Insurance is a benefit that some businesses offer their employees, enabling them to receive private medical treatment quickly and at no cost should they need it. This means that employees receive the medical treatment they need without the long wait and undue suffering. Of course, this kind of scheme has numerous benefits to both the staff and the employer. For the employer, a member of staff needing medical treatment will receive it quickly, thereby helping speed up recovery and keeping disruption due to sickness in the office to a minimum. The employee will also be more focussed on their job as they won’t be spending time worrying about a long wait for the treatment on the NHS, or a diagnosis etc or suffering undue pain. For the employee, being a member of a Group Medical Insurance policy has numerous valuable benefits, which a monetary value cannot be put on. In the first instance, they do not have to pay out major premiums for a private health care insurance policy – which can literally run into three figures every month. And they have the peace of mind that should they need it, expert medical help is available immediately. As part of the Group Medical Insurance Plan, numerous businesses who do offer this benefit to staff will also pay for their employees to have a once a year ‘healthcheck’ at a private hospital. These health checks cover weight, height, levels of fitness, blood pressure, blood tests etc and are carried out to check that the member of staff is in optimum health or to spot a so far undiagnosed condition. Either way, the screening is beneficial to staff and their businesses. For an individual who is not part of an businesses scheme to have the same sort of health screening, the cost can be anything from £150 upwards, so there is an added value to the benefit. Any staff benefit, like company health care insurance, of course also helps boost staff morale as it shows that the employer really cares about their staff. Although health plans will vary from provider to provider and employer to employer, a typical Group Medical Insurance package will offer cover for:

1. 1. In-patient and day-patient treatment once the employee has received a diagnosis
2. 2. Out-patient treatments (for example, physiotherapy)
3. 3. Free Helplines – for example, a GP Helpline and Stress Counselling Helpline.
4. 4. Specialist consultations following a referral from the employee’s GP

If you are an employer who has not yet instigated a company health care insurance plan, consider this – you may find that the advantages of taking out group health care insurance (such as better staff morale, employees having less time off due to serious illness, attracting a higher qualified level of staff etc) will far outweigh the cost. And in the long term, no doubt it will have a positive effect on your business.