Health cash plans are like many other health insurance policies. For a premium payment, health cash policies reimburse members or policy holders for the full or partial cost of various health treatments. A typical policy includes benefits like dental and optical care, health screening, on-site care, physiotherapy, as well as employee assistance programmes or EAPs.
Health cash plans data back as early as the 1870s, when they were first known as Hospital Saturday Funds. Originally, health cash plans were created to help people obtain healthcare they otherwise could not afford. In its early days, workers would pay a penny for every pound they earned towards medical treatment costs. When the NHS (National Health Service) was created, cash plan providers’ restructured services so that members can be reimbursed for care that is not covered by the NHS.
While there are no legal implications around employers who implement cash plans, providing this type of health plan helps business owners and employers to fulfil a duty of care obligations to their employees' everyday health and wellbeing. Employer-paid health cash policies are also treated as a benefit in kind.
With healthcare costs rising increasingly, more employers see health cash plans as a cost-effective means to provide employees the healthcare cover they deserve. These cash plans help cover the gap between the National Health Service provisions and private medical insurance benefits for employees. Today's health cash plan providers are also expanding the kinds of treatment that their policies can cover to include more holistic healthcare practices and disciplines like reflexology, among many other trends and alternative treatments.
