Here’s 6 reasons why it might be worth considering when you come up to renewal:
1. People really want dental and optical cover
In a recent survey, more than a third of people said they wanted eyecare vouchers from their employer. Meanwhile, dental cover is becoming increasingly popular, too, as people struggle to get routine appointments.
2. The dental crisis is deepening
Healthcare England have identified a 425% increase in people struggling to find an NHS dentist, while data released by NHS England has revealed that over 282,000 people were waiting for oral surgery on the NHS at the end of November 2022.
It’s a crisis that’s been a long time in the making and could be about to worsen, as new rules come in that will mean European qualifications won’t be recognised and we’ll have less dental recruits to cover UK demand.
3. The cost-of-living crisis is deepening, too
With many people struggling to cover basic food and utility bills, optician and dentist appointments are also falling by the wayside.
31% of people haven’t visited the dentist in over two years because of money worries, with 25% admitting to cutting back on oral health products like toothpaste, and another 25% spending less in order to prioritise their children’s teeth.
Meanwhile, two-thirds (62%) of those who wear glasses or contact lenses say they are currently ‘putting off going to the opticians’ due to the cost of living crisis, and 36% are wearing out of date prescriptions, with another 19% using glasses they’ve had to self-repair.
4. Dental and eye-sight issues are already costing your business
Obviously poor eyesight is going to have an impact if you’re an HGV driver or working in a factory - but even if you’ve got an office job it can increase fatigue, cause headaches, and seriously effect productivity and accuracy.
Dental health, too, has more of an impact at work than you might think. More than 2 million people in the UK say they’ve taken time off in the last five years due to poor oral health - costing the UK economy around £36 million every year.
5. Dentists and opticians often spot other health issues
Dentists and opticians aren’t just looking at teeth and eyes, they’re also giving people an overall oral and optical check-up – and they’re often the first to spot serious issues, from gum disease to glaucoma, brain tumours to immune disorders, diabetic retinopathy to mouth cancer – which causes more deaths in the UK every year than road traffic accidents.
6. You can support not just your workers, but also their families
Dental and optical cover isn’t just another way to invest in the health of your workforce and show you care about them - it’s also a way to show you care about their families, too.
Unlike other health insurance providers, at Equipsme the people who choose to add-on family members don’t have to share a single dental and optical pot. Each person on the plan gets up to £200 a year for dental fees, £25 towards the cost of one eyesight test per year, and up to £100 for optician fees. All included at no extra cost to the company or the individual.
In short, dental and optical cover could help you improve recruitment, retention and engagement, reduce absences, and maintain or even improve productivity. We’d be really happy to talk you through the details, contact us at hello@equipsme.com.
