Medical insurance

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Page written by Chris Godfrey. Last reviewed on September 21, 2024. Next review due April 6, 2025.

Employee illness or injury can sap the productivity and profitability out of any small organisation, and for sole traders and the self-employed, the impact can be devastating. Fortunately, Small Business Health Insurance is here to fix this problem – providing fast access to private healthcare services to keep employees fit and well and helping small businesses avoid the financial burden of extended worker sick leave.

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What is small business health insurance?

Small Business Health Insurance is a type of business insurance that offers private healthcare to UK organisations that have fewer than 250 employees – including sole traders and the self-employed. The insurance will typically cover the cost of most mental and physical healthcare, from diagnosis to treatment, and may include optional cover such as optical and dental services.

Do you need small business health insurance?

It isn’t so much do you need Small Business Health Insurance as can you afford not to have it? Does your business suffer from employee absence due to illness? Are you a sole trader or self-employed worker who cannot be off work? More than 180 million workdays were lost to sickness or injury in the UK in 2022, representing 2.6% of total working time for the national workforce and the highest level of lost workdays since 2004.

The fact is, whenever workers are absent from your organisation due to illness or injury, your business is not operating at its best. If you’re a sole trader or self-employed worker, the financial impact of untreated sickness can be catastrophic. Small Business Health Insurance is designed to eliminate the wait from diagnosis to treatment and recovery, getting employees, sole traders and the self-employed healthy and back to full productivity as soon as possible.

What are the benefits of small business health insurance?

Small Business Health Insurance can help to keep your workforce strong and performing at their best. Key benefits include:

Maintains an optimal workforce

When employees are off sick, or working below par because their medical issues cannot be remedied due to long NHS waiting times, your business suffers. Small Business Health Insurance can get the right treatments to your employees on demand, getting them back to full fitness sooner and helping to boost your organisation’s productivity.

Lower out-of-pocket costs for employees

Company healthcare plans usually deliver the same first-class healthcare cheaper than employees may be able to buy it for themselves in the open, individual-payer market.

Strengthens your recruitment and employee retention strategies

Access to private healthcare can be a powerful motivator for top candidates to join your organisation, and to prevent your existing workers from moving elsewhere.

Powers improved job satisfaction

Happy workers are productive workers. Private healthcare is proven to be one of the top employee benefits that support best job satisfaction.

Foster a healthy company culture

Providing Small Business Health Insurance can show your employees that their health is important to you. By offering a group health plan as an employee benefit, you can demonstrate that you value your employees and view them as an asset to your organisation.

What's included in small business health insurance?

The range of services available with any Small Business Health Insurance plan will vary according to the provider and the level of service that you choose. Typical plans may include:

Diagnostic, testing and well-man, well-woman services
In-hospital care at NHS and private facilities
On-demand treatments from qualified physicians
Coverage of the cost of eligible out-patient treatments
Cancer care
24hr helpline and access to nursing
Physiotherapy treatments
Mental health care

Optional services – usually available at extra cost – may include:

Dental care
Optical and audio care
Access to health and fitness services and facilities

What does small business health insurance cover?

Coverage will vary by provider and the level of service that you choose. Most Small Business Health Insurance policies will accept pre-existing medical conditions and typical plans may cover:

Hospital, clinic and practice access, including physicians’ services
X-rays, MRI, CT and PET scans
Out-patient consultations
Consultancy fees and facility costs for day or in-patient treatments and out-patient surgeries
Out-patient prescription medication services and drugs
Cancer treatments
Mental health treatments

How much does small business health insurance cost?

Just as no two businesses are the same, so no two Small Business Health Insurance plans are the same and costs will vary depending on the size of your company, the level of service that you buy and the provider you choose. However, the value of the benefits healthcare insurance can bring to your business may far outweigh the cost of any plan.

How Swoop can help

Healthy employees are productive employees. Don’t let a sick workforce make your business unwell. Contact Swoop today to compare top-quality small business health coverage from different providers and to discuss all your insurance needs.

Written by

Chris Godfrey

Chris is a freelance copywriter and content creator. He has been active in the marketing, advertising, and publishing industries for more than twenty-five years. Writing for Barclays Bank, Metro Bank, Wells Fargo, ABN Amro, Quidco, Legal and General, Inshur Zego, AIG, Met Life, State Farm, Direct Line, insurers and pension funds, his words have appeared online and in print to inform, entertain and explain the complex world of consumer and business finance and insurance.

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