Amy-Beth Stevens, Chief Growth Officer and former HR Director at SignpostMe spent over a decade in HR, and has seen a significant shift in how employers approach employee health.
We’re encouraging people to take greater responsibility for their wellbeing, recognise early warning signs and seek medical advice before problems escalate, and rightly so.
Yet there’s a contradiction in the way traditional health insurance can operate.
Why should using a benefit that an employer has invested in contribute to higher premiums the following year? Claims experience can heavily influence renewal pricing, particularly for employer schemes.
It raises an important question about what we’re actually trying to achieve.
We encourage employees to be proactive about their health, yet employers can face financial consequences when their workforce makes greater use of the healthcare made available to them.
Surely, we should be encouraging the opposite?
When someone develops a worrying symptom, early access to medical advice and diagnosis can make a meaningful difference. Delays can mean conditions worsen, treatment becomes more complex and employees spend longer away from work.
For SMEs, the issue is particularly relevant. Healthcare benefits represent a significant investment, and unpredictable renewal costs can make long-term provision difficult to sustain. When rising costs force employers to reconsider or withdraw these benefits, it can also undermine employee confidence and trust, particularly when businesses are trying to build a culture that actively supports health and wellbeing.
I believe the industry needs to reconsider how we define value in health insurance.
At SignpostMe, we’ve approached this differently. Premiums are based on age bands rather than individual claims history, giving employers greater predictability while encouraging employees to access support when they need it.
Ultimately, healthcare benefits should be designed to support better health outcomes, not simply manage claims expenditure.
The measure of a good healthcare benefit shouldn’t be how little it’s used, but the difference it makes when people need it most.
By Amy-Beth Stevens, Chief Growth Officer and former HR Director at SignpostMe