Of course, this type of scheme has many benefits to both the staff and the employer.

For the employer, a member of staff needing medical treatment will receive it quickly, thereby helping speed up recovery and keeping disruption due to sickness in the office to a minimum. The employee will also be more focussed on their job as they will not be spending time worrying about a long wait for the treatment on the NHS, or a diagnosis etc or suffering undue pain.

For the employee, being a member of a Group Health Insurance plan has many valuable benefits, which a monetary value cannot be put on. In the first instance, they don?t have to pay out huge premiums for a private medical insurance plan - which can literally run into three figures every month. And they have the peace of mind that should they need it, expert medical help is available immediately.

As part of the Group Health Insurance Plan, many companies who do offer this benefit to staff will also pay for their employees to have a once a year ?healthcheck? at a private hospital. These health checks cover weight, height, levels of fitness, blood pressure, blood tests etc and are carried out to check that the member of staff is in optimum health or to spot a so far undiagnosed condition. Either way, the screening is beneficial to staff and their employers.

For an individual who is not part of an employers scheme to have the same sort of health screening, the cost can be anything from £150 upwards, so there is an added value to the benefit.

Any staff benefit, like company health insurance, of course also helps boost staff morale as it shows that the employer really cares about their staff.

Although health plans will vary from provider to provider and employer to employer, a typical Group Health Insurance package will offer cover for:

1. In-patient and day-patient treatment once the employee has received a diagnosis

2. Out-patient treatments (for example, physiotherapy)

3. Free Helplines ? for example, a GP Helpline and Stress Counselling Helpline.

4. Specialist consultations following a referral from the employee?s GP

If you are an employer who has not yet instigated a company health insurance plan, consider this - you may find that the benefits of taking out group health insurance (such as better staff morale, employees having less time off due to serious illness, attracting a higher qualified level of staff etc) will far outweigh the cost. And in the long term, no doubt it will have a positive effect on your business.