Health insurance for small business (SME)

Getting health insurance is no longer a luxury but a must even for a business. It’s not only a way to cut costs and protect your employees but also a chance to strengthen a rapport with your team and boost its loyalty. While buying a corporate medical policy may seem expensive, you can always opt for small business health insurance that we will elaborate on in this article.

What Is Small Business Health Insurance?

Small business health insurance is an insurance policy that provides access to private healthcare for small business owners and employees.

It implies that people who can apply for this kind of insurance are owners of businesses with a team usually not exceeding 250 employees.

Do You Need Business Health Insurance?

Business health insurance can be seen as a tool to run a business in a more secure and efficient way.

Getting small business health insurance will help your company with the following:

• Saving time: Getting insurance guarantees fast access to healthcare services, which helps to reduce the time used for resolving healthcare-related issues. It allows one to concentrate more on the core business tasks, increasing the productivity of work.
• Getting access to various healthcare options: It provides different levels of healthcare access to suit your needs and budget.
• Ensuring the well-being of the employees: From the employees' point of view, having health insurance at work creates a safer and more comfortable working environment.

What Are the Benefits of Small Business Health Insurance?

With health insurance, your business can easily get the following benefits:

• Attracting and retaining human resources: Getting insurance is an investment in the health and well-being of the employees. The benefits of company insurance will make your business look more attractive in the eyes of potential employees.
• Faster treatment: Business health insurance will allow employees faster access to healthcare services compared with the national healthcare system.
• 24/7 information phone line: You and your employees will have an opportunity to get information on healthcare questions instantly at any time.
• Online GP services: Insurance will give you an opportunity to get a quick online or phone consultation with a general practitioner 24/7.
• Flexible appointment scheduling: Insurance will grant you and the employees of your enterprise more freedom in planning healthcare appointments.

What's Included in Our Health Insurance Coverage?

The exact list of healthcare services you will get covered by the insurance depends on the insurance plan you choose.

As for now, we offer three different insurance plans:

• Basic: Includes inpatient care and hospitalization expenses.
• Medium: Includes inpatient care, hospitalization expenses, and outpatient therapies.
• Comprehensive: Includes inpatient and outpatient care, extra treatments, psychotherapy, and mental health counselling. This plan also provides opportunities for getting supplementary treatments.

How Much Does Health Insurance Cost for a Small Business?

The cost of a small business health insurance can vary, depending on the number of different factors. The most important of them are:

• Size of the team: The more employees your company has, the more chances you have to get a discount, making the cost of insurance per employee smaller.
• Age of the workers: The older a person is, the more their insurance will cost. The monthly insurance cost for employees in their sixties may be 2-3 times higher than for those in their thirties.
• Area of specialization: The riskier the tasks employees are performing, the higher the insurance costs will be; insurance costs for a roofer would not be the same as that for an office worker.
• Location: The cost of the insurance depends on the average prices for the medical services in the area your business is located in; it will be higher in London than in a small town.

Small business insurance costs also depend on the kind of insurance plan that is chosen. Plans with diagnosis and treatment would be more expensive than the basic ones guaranteeing access to a GP and physio along with health checks and support.

How Much Does Health Insurance Cost for a Small Business per Employee?

As mentioned above, the cost of health insurance for small business employees depends on a number of factors. To estimate it more closely, let's consider two examples.

First, let's think of a company based in London, with a team consisting of 8 employees. The company is looking for business health insurance to cover all the members of the team. They want to have full outpatient cover and psychiatric cover, moratorium underwriting, and £100 excess. In this case, total annual premiums for the major UK health insurance brokers for small businesses would vary from approximately £4,025.52 to 6,664.68. Therefore, the annual cost per employee will fall into the range between £805.10 to 1332.94.

Now, there is another company, based in Manchester and having 80 employees. They are looking for the same insurance coverage conditions as the company above. As most insurance companies have group discounts, the cost per employee will be reduced. With total annual premiums ranging approximately from £35,557.20 to 47,054.28, the cost per employee becomes £467.86 to 619.14.

Are Pre-Existing Conditions Covered?

Most of the health insurance plans in the UK do not cover pre-existing conditions. This applies to small business health insurance as well.

The main purpose of health insurance is to cover expenses for the health problems which can arise after the coverage period has begun. On the other hand, pre-existing conditions refer to the health problems one has had before applying for the insurance. Usually, those are chronic illnesses for which one has received treatment or professional consultation within five years before applying for the insurance.

However, suppose one has not consulted healthcare specialists or received any treatment for a pre-existing condition during the two years after the insurance coverage period started. In that case, future cases associated with that condition may be included in the coverage.

How Many Employees Do You Need to Get Health Insurance?

Health insurance for a small business implies that you have a company that qualifies as a small business, which usually means having up to 250 employees. However, it is suitable for sole traders as well.

As a small business owner, you can choose some particular employees from your company to be included in the insurance, as well as your partners and children. The start date of the coverage may differ depending on who is included in the plan. We can help you choose which format will be suitable for your case.