Health Shield Friendly Society has launched its latest off-the-shelf health cash plan product with SkinVision and gym discounts added and higher health wellbeing and screening benefits, although prices have increased by around 10% for smaller firms, Health & Protection found.
The Select product offers five levels of cover for employees instead of four, with a new second level introduced.
Prices on the four original levels remain unchanged for schemes of ten or more employees, but have increased by between 9% and 10% for those with between three and nine employees.
For smaller firms, schemes start at £8 (previously £7.27) a month at Level 1, rising to £10.49 at Level 2, £18 (previously £16.36) at Level 3, £29 (previously £26.36) at Level 4 and £47 (previously £42.73) at Level 5.
For those with 10 employees or more the costs remain unchanged at £4.77 at Level 1, £6.50 at Level 2, £11.70 at Level 3, £21.67 at Level 4 and £34.02 at Level 5.
However, all Select plan levels include two additional benefits that are new to Health Shield.
SkinVision provides skin cancer detection which can detect signs of most common skin cancers with up to 95% sensitivity.
My Gym Discounts offers savings on gym memberships at more than 3,600 locations across the UK, alongside discounts on a variety of digital fitness subscriptions.
Health Shield said no benefits had been removed and any changes to benefits represented either an upgrade or match to its previous off-the shelf product, Classic.
It said the differences between the two offerings were:
- the new level two which gave a smaller jump in cost and benefit levels,
- the addition of SkinVision and My Gym Discounts,
- no upper limit to the number of employees that can be covered by this plan,
- and the separating out the combined benefit of health and wellbeing and health screening into two separate, stand-alone benefits which effectively doubles the benefit for members, as they can now claim the same sum for both.
Health Shield said initial feedback from broker partners on the Select plan had been very positive.
Paul Shires, commercial director at Health Shield, said: “We’ve seen a real behavioural shift that has presented a market gap to offer employers a cash plan with more options to suit their evolving needs.
“It’s no longer simply about a race to the lowest price to do the minimum required for their employees, which was the case for a long time.
“We are now seeing employers looking for a cash plan that works best for their workforce, and dovetails with their wellbeing strategy.
“The Select cash plan offers a great off-the-shelf solution with five levels of cover to choose from. If it doesn’t match their needs exactly our tailored cash plans are still available, offering employers the freedom to tailor a plan to the specific needs of their employees.”
Customers and members, including those on the new Select plan, can access their cash plan and additional benefits through the Breeze app, Health Shield said.
The app enables customers to claim money back on everyday healthcare costs, access support services such as virtual GP consultations, mental health support, exclusive shopping deals and discounts via the Perks rewards platform.
