An effective group PMI policy isn’t just a benefit for your people; it’s key to helping your business achieve its current goals. However, designing and managing a PMI policy that delivers real value to your business and people can be time-consuming and complex.
What is group PMI?
Group private medical insurance (group PMI) is an insurance policy that may cover the medical expenses of your employees. Cover can include everything from consultations and hospital stays, to specialist treatments and surgeries for acute conditions.
To further support the needs of their people, many employers choose to supplement their PMI offering with services that aren’t included in a standard PMI plan, such as group dental insurance, mental health treatment and a 24/7 virtual GP service.
This support can entitle your people to a number of benefits, such as:
- Quicker access to urgent and/or specialist treatment
- A cost saving on private medical services
- Flexible treatment plans
- Cover for dependents and family (if added to plan)
The benefits group PMI can bring to your business
Further to the benefits your people may enjoy, the commercial value of an effective group PMI plan is what truly cements it as a must-have employee benefit for businesses that want to compete and thrive in their sector.
Below are four key business benefits that designing and managing an effective PMI plan could help you achieve:
1. Become an employer of choice
An effective group PMI plan has been recognised as the most in-demand benefit among employees and jobseekers.1 Simply put, without a group PMI plan that delivers value to your people, you may struggle to attract and keep the top talent that can help your business grow.
By bolstering your employee value proposition (EVP), an effective group PMI policy can help demonstrate to potential and existing employees why a role at your company is better than a role elsewhere.
2. Lower your absenteeism costs
Long-term sickness is estimated to cost the UK economy over £63 billion a year by 2030, with around three quarters of this figure falling on SMEs if the current trend continues4.
With an effective PMI plan, you can your people access to private healthcare professionals and help speed up the process of diagnosis and treatment compared to the NHS5, which in turn could help reduce the number of sick days your people need to take and the subsequent cost to your business.
3. Increase productivity
Persevering through sickness at work (known as ‘presenteeism’) can be even more costly to productivity than taking sickness leave. The NHS praises the recovery power of rest for many illnesses and ailments, especially the ones affecting your people more regularly. A lack of access to prompt, specialist treatment could lead to your people working through sickness, slowing their recovery time6 and increasing the disruption to productivity that illness has been shown to cause people and businesses.1
This is where the faster diagnosis and treatment afforded by PMI shows its value; the right policy can help to ensure your people are able to bring their best selves to work in less time.
4. Use data to make better decisions
Basing decisions on data is something we always recommend; it removes the guesswork as numbers are often much more trustworthy than assumptions. By utilising technology within your PMI plan, you may be better equipped to review where your policy is effective and where you may be wasting investment.
This not only helps ensure your PMI plan delivers value to your people long term, but allows you to identify healthcare trends early. Supporting these issues more proactively can help you better resolve medical issues before they become more serious for your people and costly for your business.
