Looking for a cost-effective private health plan that is more comprehensive than a health cash plan but not as expensive as traditional private medical insurance?

1. Traditional Private Medical Insurance

Pros

• Comprehensive private diagnosis and treatment services for a wide range of conditions, often including cancer treatment.
• Members don’t have to pay up-front and claim back – bills are settled directly with the insurer.
• If money were no object, this is what everyone would want to have in their back pocket for emergencies.

Cons

• Traditional PMI can be expensive and can sometimes end up costing somewhere between £1,000 and £2,000 per person per year. Which can be a reason why they’re often the preserve of the most senior people in an organisation.
• Some policies will require a full medical history from each person, or have rolling exclusions for pre-existing conditions.
• Premiums typically go up year on year – especially with usage. Over recent years, some firms have seen price rises of between 15-30% each year, making long-term cover unsustainable for some firms.
• A high price also means high benefit-in-kind tax (P11D) costs for individuals.

2. Equipsme – The Middle Ground

Pros

• The most popular plan with Private diagnosis (from AXA Health) costs just £24 per person per month, and a plan including Private treatment for just £42 per person per month.
• No medical questionnaires to fill in on joining, just one price for all ages 16-69.
• Bills for most services (apart from dental and optical) are settled directly with the insurer, so employees don’t have to pay out up front and claim back.
• Risk is spread across the community, and expensive claims like cancer are excluded to help keep prices more sustainable (for instance our most popular plans have only gone up around 5% year on year since 2018).
• Lower prices mean less P11D tax for employees.

Also Employees can choose to pay-in directly to Equipsme to upgrade their own cover, or add family members, something we believe is unique to Equipsme.

Cons

• The lower price does come at a cover cost. Equipsme plans don’t cover everything. One key exclusion is cancer treatment. Instead, we focus on early diagnosis (essential in tackling cancers effectively) and people go back to the NHS for surgery and therapy.
• Another exclusion is for any symptoms, medical advice, treatment or condition someone has had in the three years before cover starts. (It’s a bit like home insurance. You can’t buy it when your house is already on fire, but you can buy it to protect from future risks/fires).

3. Cash plans

Pros

• Typically cash plans cost around £100 – £250 per person each year. Which means lots of businesses can afford them for larger numbers of staff.
• They often cover very practical day to day health support, like dental and optical appointments.
• Very easy to set up and simple to understand.

Cons

• Typically, employees have to pay-out up front for their treatment and claim it back with receipts afterwards.
• There will be rules and limits to the cover and they may have no or limited cover for things like private diagnosis and treatment services. That’s because things like blood tests and scans (covered by Equipsme and traditional PMI plans) can easily run into thousands of pounds.
• Really effective for everyday health support (like optical and dentist) but may be less effective for unforeseen risks/events – which could result in gaps in the cover that employers want for their team.

Companies choosing Equipsme are usually looking to balance cover and cost, and find the best possible cover for the most people in their workforce.