Standard Life ezine - Low cost high value healthcare options – Standard Life Protection & Healthcare Ezine

Standard Life's Protection & Healthcare newsletter for advisers

Issue 8: Nov 2007

Standard Life Healthcare’s new approach to business healthcare lets you build bespoke plans for small and medium sized companies. You can now create a health insurance plan for your clients with health and well-being support added in and you can also enhance their ’core modules’ by choosing the Dental Cover, Travel Cover or Health Cash Options.

Health Cash Options
It is likely that many people will need to pay for some kind of routine healthcare every year. Health Cash Options offers a generous way to help your business clients pay these bills at either a private or NHS hospital. It is designed to pay out on a number of treatments, so employees can receive generous cash benefits throughout the year, making it a valuable and sought after employee benefit.

There are three different levels, which cover many non-routine expenses too. Depending on the level of cover selected, your clients could receive up to £150 towards both dental and optical costs each year. If your clients choose either Level 2 or 3 for their employees, they’ll receive a generous cash sum for each day or night they stay in hospital – money that can be used to pay out-of-pocket expenses, such as childcare or recuperative costs. The plan even covers physiotherapy and alternative treatment – up to £450 a year under Level 3 for acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic and homeopathy.

Dental Cover
Looking after teeth can be an expensive business these days, even on the NHS*. It is also becoming increasingly difficult to register with an NHS dentist as many practitioners are becoming private*. Dental Cover can give your business clients a perk they’ll really appreciate. This cost effective benefit is available in three different levels, each offering a comprehensive range of cover with generous payouts.

*Source: The Dentistry Watch survey

Your business clients can claim for treatment whether they go privately or via the NHS and having cover lets them claim back some or all of the money they spend on dental treatment. Depending on what level of cover they choose, they can be covered for routine check-ups and treatments, as well as major procedures. All plan levels cover complex, unexpected treatments such as new and replacement crowns, bridges and dentures.

Travel Cover
Standard Life Healthcare's Travel Cover offers your business clients comprehensive travel insurance benefits whether they are abroad on business or pleasure. Your clients will be covered no matter how many trips they make, so they don’t have to arrange separate travel insurance every time they travel. Standard Life Healthcare offers two levels of Travel Cover:

Level 1 for up to 30 days per trip
Level 2 for up to 120 days per trip and it also covers winter sports.

If your business clients travel abroad, especially outside the EU, it makes sense to ensure there is adequate travel insurance should illness or accidents occur. However, Travel Cover isn’t just about medical expenses. You will be pleased to know that it insures against lost luggage and other personal belongings such as passports and money as well as loss or damage to business machines. Also covered are cancelled or delayed flights, repatriation costs, legal fees and damage caused to third parties.

Tax efficient
Health Cash Options, Dental Cover and Travel Cover are optional parts of business healthcare, Standard Life Healthcare’s modular health insurance plan that can be tailored to suit the individual needs of a business. These options can be started with just one employee. Premiums may be eligible for Corporation Tax Relief – please refer your clients to their accountant or local Tax Office for confirmation.

More details of business healthcare are available on adviserzone or you can contact your Protection & Healthcare Account Manager.