Benefits of employee health screening

What are employee health assessments?

Some medical examinations are legally required depending on the type of work you do and the associated health risks. For example, you must provide vision tests for staff working with displays or hearing tests if the noise levels in your work environment warrant it.

However, health insurance provides access to a wider range of health screening assessments that go beyond occupational health assessments and can help support employee health and well-being.

Benefits of employee health assessments

Occupational health assessments focus on specific work-related health risks. However, a health screening program helps employees learn more about their general health and well-being. The information provided by a health screening can encourage employees to make positive lifestyle changes that benefit them and your business.

For your employees

An employee health check from your insurer checks the overall health and well-being of your employees. Health screenings provide information that allows staff to set goals and avoid health problems in the future.

The Health Insurance Screening Program also provides support through accountability and wellness resources.

For your business

Offering health insurance as part of your employee benefits package demonstrates your commitment to staff well-being and can make you an employer of choice, improving job satisfaction and staff retention. You will also benefit from reduced absenteeism, better mental health and a more productive workforce when you provide health screening services.

What health assessments can health insurance provide?

Providing health insurance as one of your staff benefits can allow you to provide health screenings for specific issues or general health screenings. This can be a cost-effective way of meeting your legal obligation to offer vision or hearing tests to certain employees. There are also various health checks, with different levels of investigation.

Eye tests

Most business health insurance policies offer the option of adding optical coverage, which pays for regular eye exams and glasses or contact lenses if needed. The optical cover usually comes as part of the package with the dental cover.

Optical and dental exams provide a health check for vision problems or dental problems, but can also act as an early warning system for other problems. For example, dental exams can identify oral cancer at an early stage, and eye tests can show signs of diabetes, allowing employees to seek treatment before their condition becomes more serious.

Hearing tests

Some insurance companies offer hearing coverage along with optical and dental coverage. They are not a substitute for an employee health screening as the results will remain confidential unless your employee shares them with you. However, it can enable them to get a hearing aid if they need one. You should still carry out their regular occupational health assessment as usual.

General health assessments

Employee health screenings offer a variety of checks, including basic screenings. If necessary, you can choose an enhanced medical examination. For example, if an employee’s job requires a minimum level of fitness, you can include fitness health screenings. If your job is stressful, health screenings may include mental health checks. Many providers also offer male or female health screenings.

The baseline assessment will measure an employee’s height, weight and body fat percentage, calculating their BMI and waist-to-height ratio. It will also include mobility and flexibility checks and blood pressure and blood sugar checks to test for diabetes. If your employee is a current or former smoker, they will also receive information about the age of their lungs.

What information will you receive from your health insurance?

After each health check-up, your employee will receive information about their general health and well-being and any health problems. Depending on your chosen provider, they may also refer your employee to further treatment and resources that can provide support.

You will receive statistical data to maintain employee confidentiality, allowing you to identify patterns and act to improve employee health.

Ways of using data on employee health

The information you get from health screenings can help you improve your work environment and make changes to support the health and well-being of your employees. Here are some ways you can use the data.

Changes in work patterns

Employee health screenings can help you identify the need to change employee work patterns. For example, working long hours without enough breaks can affect physical and mental health. You may notice increased eye problems or musculoskeletal problems because your employees spend too much time sitting and staring at a screen. Alternatively, mental health challenges can arise from a stressful work environment or a lack of work-life balance.

You can address these issues by encouraging staff to take regular breaks or offering flexible working.

Improving the office environment

Improving the office environment has a positive effect on mental health. Other problems can arise from chairs that affect good posture or a screen positioned in a way that causes eye strain.

Health check data can be a reminder to review workplace risk assessments and checks.

Providing support for the well-being of individuals

Mental health problems can lead to high levels of absenteeism from the workplace. If your workforce is showing signs of stress, you can provide support by adding an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to your health insurance.

The EAP provides confidential counselling, allowing staff to discuss their mental wellbeing without worrying about the impact on their careers. If you already have one and stress levels remain high, you can focus on promoting the service to increase engagement.

Designing workplace wellness initiatives

A workplace wellness plan and initiatives help you deal with common problems. You could run engaging workplace training on wellbeing topics, lead healthy cooking demonstrations or organize activities such as lunchtime yoga or a staff walking group.

Your insurer may be able to support you in designing appropriate initiatives.

We present new benefits

Some employees’ income can have a positive effect on their health and well-being. For example, you can promote healthy eating by providing healthy snacks.

Incentives such as a cycle to work scheme can encourage staff to increase activity levels by promoting a more active commute.

How much does health insurance cost?

If you’re looking to invest in health insurance and benefit from health screenings for your employees, you’re probably wondering how much it will cost. Health insurance premiums are an allowable expense for income tax purposes. Your premium cost depends on a variety of factors.

The average age of your employees

Our risk of health problems increases as we age, which means your health insurance will cost more the older your employees are.

The number of employees you want to register

Including more employees will increase overall costs, but will give you a lower premium per head because your insurers can spread the risk of a claim over more people.

Your location

Private healthcare costs vary across the UK and tend to be higher in London and other major cities due to higher wages and housing costs. If you are in central London, you may also need to pay more for an extended hospital list so that your employees can receive treatment at a convenient location.

The industry you work in

If you work in a high-risk industry, such as construction, you’ll pay more than if your staff mostly work in an office.

The level of coverage you need

Health insurance policies usually offer basic coverage and a variety of optional extras that you can add on to get a more comprehensive range of benefits and treatments. For example, the Employee Assistance Program is usually an optional extra. The more you add, the higher the costs will be.

Policy insurance

Most health insurance policies exclude pre-existing conditions for which your employees sought treatment or advice during the five years before they joined the policy. The moratorium and full health guarantee exclude pre-existing conditions for the first two years. If you have full medical cover, your employees must provide health information when they join, but not if you have a cover moratorium.

Full medical insurance is usually slightly cheaper. However, to ensure that your employees are able to access treatment regardless of their medical history, you can choose medical history coverage. This covers pre-existing conditions but is usually the most expensive option.

Excess of politics

You can lower your premium by adding an excess policy, which means your employees will pay for part of their private treatment themselves.

Consultant and choice of hospital

Most policies offer a standard hospital list that shows which hospitals and treatment centers are covered by your policy. You can reduce your premium by choosing a guided list of consultants, which offers a more limited selection. Alternatively, you’ll pay more if you need an extended list covering larger cities or central London.

Getting professional help

At MyTribe, we strive to help you learn more about business health insurance and benefits for your employees and company. However, our guides are not a substitute for bespoke advice. Contact us for a comparative quote and we’ll put you in touch with a specialist, regulated broker for tailored advice.

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