Every business has a duty of care to look after the health and wellbeing of their workforce, but have you thought of implementing a health care cash plan to help you do this? Providing a cash is a fantastic initiative to support employee health and wellbeing.
Read on to find out what having a cash plan can mean to your business and how it can benefit both employees and your business alike.
1. A cash plan isn’t the same as private medical insurance (PMI)
It’s a myth that cash plans and PMI are the same. To benefit from a health care cash plan, you don’t have to be unwell to use it – it pays tax free cash back towards a range of everyday health costs such as dental check-ups and treatment, glasses/contact lenses, physiotherapy and much more. Plus a cash plan covers NHS and private treatment costs so you can choose where you have your treatment.
Cash plans generally cost less than PMI – Sovereign’s Asset cash plan starts from just £6.35 per employee, per month, and premiums don’t go up if your employees make a claim, making it a cost-effective health and wellbeing benefit for your staff.
2. Cash plans cover a wide range of everyday health costs and much more!
Money back on visits to opticians and dentists are by no means an exhaustive list of what’s covered by a cash plan. You can also claim back for alternative therapies such as acupuncture, reflexology and homeopathy. Cash plans can be useful for people with musculoskeletal pain; for example the physiotherapy/chiropractic/osteopathy benefit could be helpful should an employee suffer from back pain, and research shows that in 2016/17, 194,000 suffered from this.
Claiming back for everyday health costs is not all the Asset cash plan offers – personal accident cover up to £20,000 is also included as standard. A range of benefits are payable depending on the injury, and the policy also covers accidental death.
What’s more, employees will also have access to Sovereign Perks where they can get exclusive member benefits and discounts, ranging from cinema tickets to package holidays and home insurance to mobile phones.
3. Round-the-clock employee support
A cash plan not only helps take the sting out of unforeseen health issues, it can also provide your staff with round-the-clock support to help deal with life’s challenges. Asset includes access to a comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), so employees can speak to an expert about everything from financial information and gambling issues to family matters or housing concerns. So it can support their emotional and mental wellbeing as well as their physical health.
4. Help reduce the amount of time your staff are off work sick
Proactively managing everyday health with a cash plan could help reduce the risk of needing to take time off work through illness or injury – something that benefits both the employee and employer! When you have a cash plan, it enables you to access health treatments that you might have delayed previously due to cost – prevention is better than cure.
A cash plan can also provide you and your staff with return to work support. Returning to work after prolonged absence can often be a stressful process, especially if the period of leave has been caused by a serious illness, injury or grievance. When conducting a return to work meeting, managers can direct employees to the EAP to support them with any anxiety or concerns they may have.
5. Easy to implement
The thought of setting up a new benefit for your staff might seem daunting, but implementing a cash plan from Sovereign is straightforward. All you need to do is send us a signed application form along with a spreadsheet detailing employee names, addresses and dates of birth to be covered – we do the rest!
Once the plan is in place, we offer face to face briefing presentations at your offices, explaining to employees the plan benefits and how easy it is to make a claim.
6. Assist with recruitment and retention
Research shows that employees really value the benefits their employers offer, and benefits are important for both attracting and retaining staff – 75.9% of employees surveyed stated they’d be more likely to stay with an employer that offers a good benefits package.1 A further 73.9% stated they’d be more likely to accept a job from a future employer if they offer a good benefits package.1
By providing your employees with a health care cash plan, you’re demonstrating you care about their health and wellbeing, whilst also helping to make their health care expenses more affordable – making you a more attractive employer.
To find out more about Sovereign Health Care and its range of cash plans available for businesses, please visit https://www.sovereignhealthcare.co.uk/business
1 CAPITA Workplace Benefits Employee Insight Report | 2018