As a business owner, it is your responsibility to hire the best employees and take concrete steps that will be beneficial for your employees so they remain productive and your business grows. In the UK, a large number of corporations choose to provide corporate healthcare insurance as part of benefits package to their employees. These days, most of the young people are in fact looking for companies that offer this benefit because corporate healthcare insurance is not just a benefit, but a life saver.

In order to ensure that employees remain productive in the company, a large number of employers offer certain incentives such as monthly credit allowance, health insurance, car transport and a number of other things. But, out of all these, health insurance remains the most desired and the most attractive benefits of all. By having a corporate healthcare plan in the UK, an employee is able to take care of his medical needs and also those of his family’s without having to worry about huge medical bills and rising health care costs.

A corporate health insurance plan shares the financial risk of medical related expenses among the members of the group or the employees. These risks are shared under one contract by all those who contribute into a fund or pool. When employers have corporate insurance plans in place for their employees, any employees who suffers illnesses or requires medical services is compensated financially by the plan. However, there are certain terms laid out in the contract that needs to be followed. Most corporate health plans provide coverage for family members of employees as well.

Insuring every member in the company with different medical insurance packages can become really expensive and for this reason, it is a good idea to buy corporate healthcare plan. There are many benefits of having this kind of plan. Some of the major benefits for the employees include:

- It is cost effective, much cheaper than having an individual health insurance plan

- In a corporate health insurance plan, the amount of premium per head will be lower and will be affordable by everyone.

- Another major advantage to the employees is that corporate medical insurance plans can be tailored to their needs. For example, if the employees need specific coverage such as dental coverage, they can opt for a plan that provides dental coverage. On the other hand, if the employees do not want coverage for accidents, they can choose not to have one.

- Moreover, depending on the needs and requirements of the employees, there are options in the plans which can be chosen. The employees don’t have to pay for services that they do not need. This plan allows them to choose only what they need and pay a monthly premium for that.

There are also a number of benefits for the employers. These include:

- Provides a competitive edge in the job market which helps attract and also retain good employees. This also helps minimise costs associated with high employee turnover.
- Gives access to health insurance at an affordable rate. This kind of coverage is cheaper than individual coverage. These plans do not discriminate and offers all the members of the group the same coverage.
- Offers one of the most cost effective ways to protect the health and safety of employees.
- Premiums which are paid by the employer is tax deductible.

Popular Corporate Healthcare Plans in the UK

Two of the popular ones include the NCD option and the Six Week Option. In the NCD option, the employees are told about the discount level that their employer will be providing. Then, the employees can decide whether or not they want to opt for the medical insurance plan.

The Six Week Option provides advantage for a number of services. These include out-patient treatment, in-patient treatment, day-patient treatment and surgical procedures. Under this option, these services will only be provided if the NHS has failed to provide these treatments within a period of six weeks from when the application for the treatment was made. However, emergency treatments are not covered under the policy.

Catastrophic health insurance coverage reduces rates by covering major medical expenses at extremely affordable premiums. Most large health insurers such as Blue Cross, Aetna, UnitedHealthCare, Cigna and Assurant offer this type of coverage for their individual and family plans. Also, short-term temporary plans tend to feature catastrophic benefits instead of routine medical expenses.

Typically, catastrophic health insurance policies provide coverage for inpatient and outpatient hospital expenses, emergency room charges, anesthesia, X-rays and lab tests, surgical expenses and professional fees of doctors, surgeons and other medical providers. Occasionally, preventive benefits will be provided. However, most catastrophic plans do not pay for office visit and prescriptions. Occasionally, limited office visit benefits may be covered, but a deductible will probably apply.

A “High Deductible Health Plan” (HDHP) is another form of catastrophic coverage. An HDHP is an inexpensive health care plan that typically does not pay for the first several thousand dollars of medical expenses. However, after those expenses have been paid (your deductible), the policy pays 80%-100% of remaining expenses. HDHP plans are required if you are going to open up a Health Savings Account (HSA). However, you are also able to take out an HDHP without using the HSA feature.

HSAs are affordable alternatives to traditional health care designed to use tax-deductible funds to pay for eligible medical, dental and vision expenses. This type of account allows consumers to have more control over how they spend their health care dollars. Rates also are lower than traditional medical insurance plans, allowing for additional funds to be deposited into the HSA Account. Self-employed individuals and families often purchase HSAs to reduce costs and take advantage of the tax benefits. Any funds that are not used by the end of the calender year can be rolled over to the next year.

Catastrophic health insurance plans are ideal options when you are primarily concerned with covering major expenses and are willing to pay a relatively high amount of out-of-pocket money for these types of claims. Generally, over time, the money saved by purchasing these types of plans more than offsets your out-of-pocket losses. Of course, you can lower the deductible on a catastrophic plan to reduce the rate that you pay. Many insurers will offer deductibles as low as $500.

High deductible plans are growing in popularity as premiums health care premiums continue to rise. Although this type of coverage does not meet every person’s needs, as national health care reform forces rates up, catastrophic health insurance, if available, will continue to be a very popular choice. If future state health insurance exchanges do not offer high-deductible plans, policies will be able to be purchased outside of the Exchanges.