9% Rise in Workplace Private Medical Insurance

According to Aon Consultancy there has been a 9% increase in the amount companies are having to spend on private health insurance for their staff. Despite this companies are generally still happy to pay which suggests that the benefits far outweigh the increases in premiums.


The study looked at 653 employers and found that the main reasons that employers continued to provide health care benefits for their staff were as follows:

53% - to make sure employees returned to work quickly

56% - employee wellbeing is part of their corporate social responsibility

67% - offered as part of a competitive benefits package

A third of companies were looking to review their schemes because of the higher costs but on the other hand many were considering the introduction of additional cover for their staff: 16% were considering cash plans, just over a quarter where were looking at employee assistance programmes and 39% were considering a dental health plan.

On a very positive note 22% had seen no reduction or decreases to their health cover premiums.

Head of health consulting at Aon Consulting, Alex Bennett, said,

'If companies are faced with 9%+ increases in the cost of their healthcare benefits, they should take steps to ensure that better terms cannot be arranged by more effective broking and insurer leverage or through re-designing benefits.'

Co-orporate health insurance is almost always secured via brokers who should be able to secure good deals.