Benenden Business Healthcare
Benenden’s new plan for businesses offers a plan that is provided by new partner Bupa Insurance and includes:
Diagnosis. Covering employees for all diagnostic consultations and tests, including X-rays and scans necessary to reach an initial diagnosis of symptoms.
Musculoskeletal. Covers diagnosis, advice, treatment, physiotherapy and surgery for any muscle, or joint disorder. Uses an initial phone diagnosis, with no GP referral being required.
Mental health and wellbeing. This provides a comprehensive 24/7 psychological wellbeing service to provide employees and their families with treatment for a range of mental health issues including stress, anxiety and depression. Support ranges from telephone counselling to face-to-face therapy sessions.
24/7 HealthLine. This is a 24/7 UK based advice line providing employees and their families with access to medical help, advice and support from qualified GPs and nurses.
Services are provided through a network of over 700 private health facilities across the UK. Claims must be pre-authorised and the scheme uses networks of approved healthcare providers. The patient’s GP must provide an open referral letter to the patient.
A 44 page Scheme Membership Guide explains to employees how the scheme works, with other literature available to employers and employees. That includes a booklet on Direct access to muscle, bone and joint treatment without seeing your GP. The plan is initially being promoted only through select brokers, but that will be extended in due course.
Comment: Benenden is best known for its discretionary schemes which have provided low cost healthcare benefits. Recently, it has partnered with Bupa and this new scheme is a traditional, albeit budget, insured PMI type plan.
It focuses not on expensive in and day case treatment but on speedy diagnosis and treating musculoskeletal and mental health needs. Those are typically the two most common heads of income protection claims for example, so the scheme is effectively looking to offer most value to employers, but without the expense of full cost PMI.
The benefits themselves cover a very wide range of needs and the likely low cost of providing the benefits should make it appeal to employers to minimise cost or to extend coverage beyond the usual senior staff only cohort.
Getting an early diagnosis is important in good sickness absence management and this scheme does that, then managing employees back into the NHS to get treatment where necessary.
Plus points: Low cost alternative to full cost PMI; Focuses on health areas likely to be of most value to employers and should appeal to employees too; Two powerful brands in Benenden and Bupa; Good information packages; Targeted at SMEs.
Not so plus points: Not as comprehensive as full cost PMI; Limited benefits; Uses open referral – which is not popular with everyone; Initially distributed only through selected brokers.
Website: http://www.benenden.co.uk.
Rating (max 10): Innovation: 8. Overall: 7.5. Silver
Tags: PMI; Benenden