- New product launch meeting the demand for greater choice from employers
- An affordable option which provides essential cover for employees
Health Shield Friendly Society, the health cash plan provider, today announces the launch of its new health cash plan product, Select. Created in response to the changing demands of customers and broker partners, the new product offers employers the most popular cash plan benefits, selected in one straightforward off-the-shelf plan. What makes Select different from other cash plans, is the additional cover levels available, making it easier for employers to support their employees in leading, healthy happy lives.
Available with levels of cover to appeal to companies of various size, needs and budget, the new Select product enables employers to choose from five different levels of cover for employees. Costs start from as little as £4.77 per employee per month at Level One, but it is the new Level Two that makes Select stand out from other cash plans in the market, with a much smaller step up in cost than with other providers. This makes it easier for employers to do much more than the minimum, giving their employees enhanced benefits that can really make a difference, at an affordable cost.
The introduction of a smaller gap between levels is a market-first for an off-the-shelf health cash plan product. In addition, all Select plan levels include two additional benefits that are new to Health Shield:
- SkinVision, providing accurate and timely skin cancer detection, which can detect signs of most common skin cancers with up to 95% sensitivity. At least 100,000 new cases are diagnosed in the UK each year
- My Gym Discounts, offering significant savings on gym memberships at over 3,600 locations across the UK, alongside discounts on a variety of digital fitness subscriptions.
Health Shield are making things even more simple for all customers and members, including those on the new Select plan, by providing convenient access to their cash plan and additional benefits through the Breeze app. With single secure sign-on technology, Breeze provides an easy way to claim money back on everyday healthcare costs, access support services such as virtual GP consultations, mental health support, exclusive shopping deals and discounts via the PERKS rewards platform – and much more.
As the cost of PMI soars, driven by the pressures on the NHS, Select provides organisations with a comprehensive and effective alternative to supporting a healthy and happy workforce, and their families. More than 35 million working days are lost each year due to work-related illness and workplace injury, making it vital for employers to offer this kind of preventative support. Employees too, value this benefit, with more than half of the UK workforce now wanting access to healthcare through their employer.
Select Health Cash Plan product details
Employer benefits of Select:
- Different cover levels, with the option for employees to upgrade their cover
- Provides employees with easy digital access and financial support for everyday healthcare
- An attractive employee benefit that shows health is at the heart of the workplace
- A compelling offer to help attract and retain top talent, especially crucial given there are almost a million job vacancies currently in the UK
- Simple, speedy onboarding and marketing support to engage employees
- Optional extras: PMI excess cover and face-to-face counselling
- Available for a minimum of 3 employees with no maximum amount of employees
Employee benefits:
- Money back on everyday healthcare costs including dental, optical and physiotherapy
- Dependent children up to age 21 who live at home and are in full time education can be added at no extra cost - partners can be added for an additional charge
- Fast online claims, with money back within 3-5 working days
- Access to Additional Benefits including virtual GP and 24/7 counselling and support
- Exclusive discounts and cashback on shopping via PERKS
- All available through the Breeze app
Initial feedback from broker partners on the Select plan has been very positive, Clear Insurance Management commented: “This is a great proposition and pricing point. The added benefits are fantastic, and really puts Health Shield in a good position against any other proposition. The wellbeing benefits are great and it is a strong selling point for potential clients as a lot of new to market schemes want a low cost benefit (not just for them but for lower paid staff and their P11D) and a “wellbeing proposition”, which in my opinion can all be encapsulated with this product.”
Health Shield has invested heavily over the last twelve months on improving digital capabilities. Making onboarding and managing a cash plan even more straightforward for employers and intermediaries, while introducing the Breeze app for members to submit a claim, access their benefits and manage their cash plan on the go, providing customers and members with a straightforward, enhanced digital experience.
This investment has driven strong customer growth over the last twelve months, with Health Shield now covering and protecting more than 500,000 individuals. All of whom benefit from Health Shield’s affordable and accessible benefits.
Paul Shires, Commercial Director at Health Shield, commented: “We’ve seen a real behavioural shift that has presented a market gap to offer employers a cash plan with more options to suit their evolving needs. It’s no longer simply about a race to the lowest price to do the minimum required for their employees, which was the case for a long time. We are now seeing employers looking for a cash plan that works best for their workforce, and dovetails with their wellbeing strategy. The Select cash plan offers a great off-the-shelf solution with five levels of cover to choose from. If it doesn’t match their needs exactly our tailored cash plans are still available, offering employers the freedom to tailor a plan to the specific needs of their employees.”
