Engage Health Group

Category: News

  • Morneau Shepell; Mental Health Index – The Pandemic’s impact on managers

    Morneau Shepell; Mental Health Index – The Pandemic’s impact on managers

    Morneau Shepell Mental Health Index (MHI) on managers at work

    An excellent insight into how managers at work are dealing with the growing pressure of the pandemic. How they need to deal with their staff’s problems, and how it affects their overall happiness in their own job.

    Employee productivity affected by the pandemic

    Managers have had to deal with many new challenges. 1 in 4 managers say employee productively declined since the start of the pandemic, this increases pressure on management.

    • 15% see more productive employees
    • 26% see less productive employees
    • 57% the same

    Both employees and managers indicate concern for the mental health of others at work

    • Everyone is thinking more about mental health, which is positive.
    • 33% of employees are concerned about a co-workers mental health.
    • 30% of managers concerned about the mean health of their team since the stat of the pandemic
    • It is important for colleagues and managers to act on this and check-in, talk, and point people to support, like an IEAP

    Managers dealing with staff mental health issues

    4 in 5 managers have dealt with a specific mental health issue with at least one employee since the start of the pandemic

    • 24% – Yes, and I have provided support or reminded people how to get support
    • 35% – Yes, I have seen concerning behaviour changes, but I am not sure what to do
    • 20% – Yes, an employee(s) have brought it up with me, but I am not sure what to do
    • 21% – No, I have not had any mental health issues come up with an employee.
    • Having no support is extremely stressful for managers
    • Shows how important it is to train manages on what to do.

    Why managers considering leaving their jobs

    More than 4 in 10 managers have thought about leaving their jobs in 2020

    • In a stressed environment, one of the key indicators is people looking to exit the situation
    • Managers are more at risk of turnover than employees
    • 44% of managers considering new jobs vs 28% of non-managers
    • If I the job for 1 year or less, this increases to 52% vs 33% for employees in their job for 10 years or more

    More than half of managers say their role changed since the pandemic, most of those think the change is permanent

    • 58% of manages say their role has changed significantly as a result of the pandemic
    • 67% of those say the change in their role will continue after the pandemic

    Why are managers looking to leave their current roles?

    • 56% Increased mental stress at work
    • 32% Increased mental stress at home
    • 31% Employers response to pandemic
    • 11% My employers response to issues of race and diversity
    • 6% Better pay / advancement – This was the primary driver pre-pandemic

    Separately, 48% of all employees (managers and non-managers) indicated the reason for considering leaving their job is a mental stress factor. This was also the top single reason.

    Need for employee support

    Most common ask of managers is more support for the mental health and wellbeing of employees

    • 41% More support for mental health and welling of my team
    • 38% More training
    • 33% More support for my own mental health and wellbeing
    • 30% Additional policy guidance
    • 17% Nothing

    For more insights, please select one of the following articles;

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – Key findings and further information

    Morneau Shepell; Employers Connect – Virtual Mental Health Summit

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on mental health & productivity

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The importance of Financial Wellbeing

    Morneau Shepell are a leading provider of International Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP). A Global EAP allows a business to provide a consistent level of mental health support to employees across multiple international locations. You can find out more about Global EAP’s here;

    Find more information on the full range of International Employee Benefits here

    Find more information on International Business Health Insurance here

  • Morneau Shepell; MHI – The importance of Financial Wellbeing

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The importance of Financial Wellbeing

    Morneau Shepell’s Mental Health Index found the following;

    The Pandemic has forced improvement in some areas too. The level of emergency savings increased and remains higher than in April for UK employees.  This has a positive impact on mental health

    • A high level of financial risk increases your mental health risk – these two factors are strongly correlated.
    • By saving and having a contingency fund, it increases the feeling of control and therefore improves mental health.

    Emergency savings is the strongest driver of MHI score, regardless of income

    • Those with no emergency savings -27.99
    • Those with emergency savings -7.9

    More than 1 in 4 working Britons are worse in a worse financial situation due to the pandemic, however there is no consistent experience.

    • 26% worse off financially
    • 17% better off financially
    • Even if your company is doing well and hasn’t been paying people off, employees can still be feeling an impact due to other factors that you can’t always see as an employer, for example an employees partner being laid off, childcare costs are up etc, so financial wellbeing shouldn’t be taken for granted.

    Almost 1 in 4 indicate their financial situation is negatively impacting their work productivity.

    • 23% rated that their work productivity is negatively impacted by their financial situation.
    • Financial wellbeing is as much of a component of a mental health strategy as any other part.

    For more insights, please select one of the following articles;

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on Managers

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – Key findings and further information

    Morneau Shepell; Employers Connect – Virtual Mental Health Summit

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on mental health & productivity

    Morneau Shepell are a leading provider of International Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP). A Global EAP allows a business to provide a consistent level of mental health support to employees across multiple international locations. You can find out more about Global EAP’s here;

    Find more information on the full range of International Employee Benefits here

    Find more information on International Business Health Insurance here

  • Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on mental health & productivity

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on mental health & productivity

    Employee mental health and productivity during the covid pandemic

    Morneau Shepell’s Mental Health Index found the following;

    A significant majority indicate that the pandemic has negatively impacted their mental health;

    74% of workers in the UK were aware that pandemic has negatively impacted their mental health (80% Canada, 81% Australia, 75% US)

    Employee mental health declined during the pandemic

    Mental health of working Britons declined significantly since the pandemic and continues to be strained;

    In this measure, a score of 0 equals the 2019 levels of mental health. A negative score is a decline and a positive score is an improvement. A movement of 1 or 2 % would be something that you would pay attention to.

    • In April 2020, the score for working Britons was -13.8.
    • These numbers have fluctuated between -13.8 and -12 during the year, ending in Jan 2021 with a score of -13.3, showing a sustained pressure.

    These numbers show a mental health crisis. A decline of this magnitude has never been seen in other studies conducts by Morneau Shepell over the years. You would expect to see a recovery over time, but that hasn’t been able to happen due to the protracted nature of the pandemic. Due to this, the situation is likely to be more critical than we think it is, or have seen before.

    Burnout risk for UK employees after covid

    The proportion of the UK working population with Burnout risk tripled in 2020 compared to 2019

    Burnout comes from excessive or prolonged stress without sufficient recovery. The impact means that employees find it hard to work and be productive. Symptoms include;

    • Feeling less accomplishment
    • Emotional exhaustion
    • Decreased motivation / caring

    This is a significant concern for employers, as much as employees, as this is a key driver for low productivity and higher staff turnover.

    UK employee productivity during the pandemic

    Employee work productivity declined in April and remains low

    • People are working more hours now they are working from home.
    • One of the reasons people are working more is that they are feeling less productive per hour of work. There are more distractions – anxiety / stress, so less productive and more hours being worked, being driven by mental health.
    • The extra hours might be masking this decrease in productivity for some employers to a certain extent. However, productivity declining due to mental health issues is an underlying issue which companies need to address as part of recovery.

    For more insights, please select one of the following articles;

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The importance of Financial Wellbeing

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on Managers

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – Key findings and further information

    Morneau Shepell; Employers Connect – Virtual Mental Health Summit

    Morneau Shepell are a leading provider of International Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP). A Global EAP allows a business to provide a consistent level of mental health support to employees across multiple international locations. You can find out more about Global EAP’s here;

    Find more information on the full range of International Employee Benefits here

    Find more information on International Business Health Insurance here

  • Morneau Shepell – Global mental health pandemic being evidenced in data for the first time

    Morneau Shepell – Global mental health pandemic being evidenced in data for the first time

    The first global mental health pandemic data revealed – The Morneau Shepell’s Conference

    We were delighted to attend leading International Employee Assistance Programme provider, Morneau Shepell’s, 10th annual Employers Connect event this week. In the UK, Morneau Shepell also operate as ‘Lifeworks’ a UK brand which they requires a number of years ago.

    This was their first virtual event, held across their key global locations, and they took the opportunity to provide some fascinating insight into research which they have been conducting over the last year, using their Mental Health Index – more on that further down.

    The event was hosted by Stephen Liptrap, President & CEO and Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research and Total Wellbeing.

    Stephen opened the event, commenting;

    “We’re experiencing a global mental health pandemic. In less than one year, mental health has emerged as one of the top business issues around the world…. It’s an opportunity to act on what we have always knows to be true; happy, healthy and engaged people are the key to building a high performing workforce, and resilient organisations”

    “Mental health issues have never been more acute, but we also have more data, a strong will to make a change, and clear evidence that what employers do makes a difference.”

    Morneau Shepell launched their Mental Health Index (MHI) almost a year ago, in April 2020, which is updated monthly to provide a measure of the state of people’s mental health around the world (notably the US, Canada, UK and Australia). We were encouraged to think of the Index akin to the monthly CPI or RPI data we measure our economies on, but for mental health. Paula Allen, then took us through some of the key findings which we will summarise below and in the coming articles;

    2020: a waterhead moment in mental health

    The impact of the pandemic on the mind has been significant. Generally, stress inducing situations present you with a degree of control; moving house, having a baby, your job etc.. However, the pandemic delivers massive change with no control, impacts include;

    • Loss of sense of control / security
    • Uncertainty
    • Increased isolation
    • Heightened vigilance
    • Increased care and concern for others

    Typically, there is a predicable way that people respond to crisis

    1. Shock, denial and confusion
    2. Heroics – quick decision making, massive effort to react quickly – but this is not sustainable
    3. Disillusionment, fatigue, burnout – generally this is where most of us are now
    4. Short term adjustment – if we have the right support we have, or can, move here. However, this Is not guaranteed. If we do not act it can result in a longer term detriment.
    5. Longer term adaption

    Recovery from crisis is not guaranteed:

    Risks include:

    • Temporary coping strategies such as alcohol and food
    • Peoples thinking styles can change – Catastrophizing, unrelenting anxiety
    • Overwhelming anger, feelings of helplessness
    • Lack of action or opportunity for mental recovery
    • Delaying physical / mental health care
    • Isolation and lack of social support

    Morneau Shepell have seen trends in their data which show that people who have anger as their primary reaction, have been struggling more than most and they have been doing worse over time. People whose primary emotion is gratitude, focussing on what they have, what they can do, and recognition and appreciation of others, have experienced mental health which has been improved through this crisis.

    What we do now is going to make a huge difference is how we move forward.

    Mental Health Index (MHI)

    The MHI has been three years in the planning. Benchmark data was collected between 2017 – 2019 with the Index launched in April 2020.

    The Index offers a clear measure of mental health in the working population, over time. It polled a representative national sample in four key countries;

    US: 5,000

    Canada: 3,000

    UK: 2,0000

    Australia: 1,000

    MHI data is collected and published monthly and is the source of the data in the insights which follow. We have broken down the findings into four articles;

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on mental health & productivity

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The importance of Financial Wellbeing

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – The Pandemic’s impact on Managers

    Morneau Shepell; MHI – Key findings and further information

    Morneau Shepell are a leading provider of International Employee Assistance Programmes. These Global EAP’s allow businesses to provide a consistent level of mental health support to employees, across multiple international locations. You can find out more about Global EAP’s here;

    Find more information on the full range of International Employee Benefits here

    Find more information on International Business Health Insurance here

  • Cigna Global to end use of physical membership cards

    Cigna Global to end use of physical membership cards

    Cigna Global Health Insurance Provider replacing physical cards with digital ones

    Leading International Health Insurance provider, Cigna Global, has today announced that they have made the decision to no longer issue physical cards to members purchasing their International Medical Insurance products. Instead, Cigna Global will be providing their digital ID card as standard, which can be accessed via a members secure online Customer Area.

    For the last six months Cigna Global have been unable to issues customers with physical cards due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as their teams continue to work from home. They state that this change has been well received by existing customers on their Worldwide Health Insurance plans and has led them to review whether this should be made a permanent change.

    Cigna Global state the benefits of this move include; better serving the evolving needs of their clients as they pivot to a digital preference, the reduction in environmental impact, and the benefit of no longer having to worry about losing their card.

    This means that moving forward new sales and renewals where a customer has made relevant changes to their policy, Cigna ID cards will only be issued digitally as standard across all of their International Health Insurance plans. Customers can continue using their physical cards unless they advise that the content included on the card has been updated and is no longer valid. The only exception to this will be Cigna Global Health Indonesia customer who will continue to use physical cards in al instances.

    Cigna Global Digital ID Cards

    Cigna Global state that their digital Cigna ID cards work in the same way. Members with a digital card can;

    • Allow a hospital to set up direct payment with Cigna Global so they can pay for the medical bill
    • Use their personal reference number to access all of their online information and services
    • Get in touch with Cigna Global. The digital cards features all the contract details required to reach the Cigna Global teams, anytime, anywhere.

    The additional advantages of their digital card include;

    • It is available from day one of the international Health Insurance uk plan
    • Provides a secure way to source plan information
    • Information is always accurate and up to date
    • Less plastic production and carbon production in delivery is better for the environment

    Digital cards are available on Cigna Global’s secure online Customer Area. To access this customers can visit www.cignaglobal.com then:

    • Click on the ‘Customer Login’ button at the top right of the page
    • Enter the email address provided on application with and then their password

    IMPORTANT NOTE: The policyholder, if applicable, must login to their secure online Customer Area and access beneficiaries cards on their behalf.

    While this is now Cigna Global’s standard stance across their range of International Medical Insurance uk plans. If members have a strong preference to keep receiving a physical card, this can be accommodated, once the Cigna Global teams return to the office. Members just need to inform their intermediary who can arrange this on their behalf.

    For more information on this announcement, or to discuss Cigna Global’s range of International Health Insurance products, please get in touch.

  • Price drop? Bupa makes major changes to Ultimate Health plan

    Price drop? Bupa makes major changes to Ultimate Health plan

    Bupa Global’s Ultimate Health Plan has sat at the top of the International Medical Insurance market for a number of years. It’s designed for ‘Ultra High-Net-Worth Individuals’ – people with a net worth of $30m plus.

    The product goes above and beyond what would normally be found in an International Health Insurance product. The features included in Bupa’s Ultimate Health Plan has made it an attractive proposition for those who qualify. In fact, you can argue it’s as much a lifestyle product as an insurance product.

    The Ultimate Health Plan includes:

    • Post-treatment recuperation in a health resort
    • Access to the very best suites in private hospitals. For example, the private suites at the Bupa Cromwell, where accommodation alone starts at between £5,000 and £10,000 per night.
    • Evacuation for medical and non-medical emergencies (such as natural disasters)
    • An incredibly exhaustive range of diagnostics, including genetic cancer screening
    • The widest range of treatments possible, everything you would usually expect plus prosthetic treatments and transplants

    The product is overseen by a ring-fenced private client service team of experienced, multi-language service specialists based in Copenhagen. Members on the Bupa Ultimate Health plan will have a dedicated contact in the team to manage all of the dealings on their plan as well as assistance in finding the best facility and booking treatment.

    While Bupa’s Ultimate Health Plan is a product unlike anything else in the International Private Medical Insurance market, it came with a price tag to suit, with prices generally starting at $20,000 per person per year. Which really did limit this to the Ultra High-Net-Worth market.

    Considering investing in Bupa Global’s Ultimate Health Plan? Get impartial advice from the independent brokers at Engage Health Group. Call +44 (0)1273 974419 or use the chatbox to the right. 

    What’s new for Bupa’s Ultimate Health Plan?

    Bupa Global have announced a range of product updates and what they are describing as an ‘overall significant price reduction (subject to underwriting)’. Product enhancements include:

    • Removed waiting period for health screenings
    • Added additional tests/therapies that can be claimed for under health screening such as:
      • Cryotherapy
      • Vitamin therapy
      • EMG test
      • COVID-19 antibody test
      • Stress-related therapies
      • Sports massages
      • Colonic irrigation
      • Therapy for sleep disorders
    • Dietetic guidance now available for a medical reason rather than limited to diabetes patients only
    • Footcare now available for a medical reason rather than limited to diabetes patients only

    These updates help the Bupa Ultimate Health Plan retain its place at the top of the tree, amongst stronger competition from Cigna Global and Allianz Worldwide Care, who are also keen to focus on this exclusive part of the market for UK International Medical Insurance.

    Have Bupa’s prices come down?

    The cost of the premium will vary according to a variety of factors, but now starts at around £10,200 per person, reaching as high as £33,000. Keep in mind, this is with medical history disregarded, global coverage (US included) and all the features mentioned above – and more.

    If you’d like FREE quotes and advice regarding Bupa’s Ultimate Health Plan and other international insurance products, please get in touch. Simply fill in our contact form or email enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk. 

  • Bupa Global Launches New Executive Wellbeing Index

    Bupa Global Launches New Executive Wellbeing Index

    The pandemic has been a nightmare for us all in one way or another, but it has also made us take a step back and reassess how we’ve been living our lives up to now – a lot of us don’t want to go back to exactly how it was before. Perhaps the small silver lining in this crisis is that it has forced us to re-examine our values and goals; What’s really important? And how would we prefer to muddle through this life in the future?

    As we realise that COVID-19, or at least, the effects of it, are here to stay for a good while longer, we’re adapting to a new set of needs and wants. And so, too, are the world’s boardroom executives. These business leaders will be helping to shape businesses, employment, and economies in the Post-COVID world – so how have they felt the impact? How will they respond?

    The New Executive Wellbeing Index

    In light of this, the leading International Health Insurance provider, Bupa Global, has commissioned research across seven key global regions (China, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, UAE, UK and USA), interviewing almost 2,000 high net-worth individuals and senior executives. The result is their recently released: Executive Wellbeing Index – a fascinating insight into how each area reacted to the spread of the virus, both in terms of public health and the economy. The report also comments on how business will be changing in response to the experience of 2020 and indicates how the focus areas within an International Employee Benefits offering may shift. We have outlined some of the key findings below;

    • Seven in 10 experienced poor mental health in this time, rising to eight in 10 for business leaders. For many, this was a new experience and didn’t know how to best handle the situation, with 40% of board-level executives reporting that they delayed seeking help.
    • This experience has led to one in four executives committing to provide better mental health and wellbeing support for colleagues. This is something that Engage Health Group can testify too, with a surge over the last few months, of interest in International Employee Assistance Programmes (iEAP) which deliver low cost, but very high impact mental health support.
    • One in three board-level executive plan to continue working mostly from home on a permanent basis, with over half stating they plan not to return to the same fast pace of life.
    • Other key findings include; a planned cut down of travel, plans to manage down their hours (24%), take more regular exercise (38%), maintain a better diet (32%), make more time for meditation and mindfulness (30%), and an increasing number of executives are looking to opt for early retirement.

    The Wellbeing Index Highlights Mental Health Problems

    It is sad, but perhaps, unsurprising, that mental health and wellbeing was one of the biggest issues identified, with such a large percentage of the interviewees claiming to have experienced mental health issues. The silver lining to this cloud may be a genuine acceleration in embracing the importance of workplace mental and physical wellbeing, and a rebalancing of work/life priorities. These business cultures can often stem from the top down and with such a significant and lasting impact on board level exec’s focus, and crucially budget, being allocated to support the many employees becoming increasingly isolated. A well designed International Employee Benefits strategy is critical in providing employees with a consistent and effective support system, and with a broad range of products and services now available to international businesses, a meaningful International Employee Benefits offering can be provided across a range of budgets and employee host countries.

    Bupa Global’s research also uncovered that 70% of executives now plan to purchase Private Medical Insurance, or International Medical Insurance, with an emphasis on preventative care and mental health, in the next 12 months.

    In anticipation of this demand, Bupa Global has been investing in its mental health services to support employees, individuals and their families by removing annual and monetary limits across their International Medical Insurance plans for in-patient and day-patient mental health treatments. They are now also including cover for various conditions relating to mental health that had previously been excluded from their policies.

    Bupa Global, and the majority of other International Health Insurance providers, now also provides an International EAP incorporated into their company International Private Medical Insurance plans, as standard, to reflect the demand in this space.

    Bupa Global’s full Executive Wellness report can be downloaded here and the accompanying infographic can be downloaded here

  • Cigna Global to Launch Enhancements to their Individual Plans in October 2020

    Cigna Global to Launch Enhancements to their Individual Plans in October 2020

    Cigna Global Improves their Product Offering

    Leading International Health Insurance provider, Cigna Global, recently announced a raft of enhancements to their Cigna Global Health Options products. The range is specifically for individuals and families and the changes will take effect for plans starting or renewing from the 22nd October 2020.

    Cigna’s Global Health Options have been in the Worldwide Health Insurance market for seven years, and have proven to be very popular due to their flexible modules, rich benefits levels and solid wellness offering. Markets evolve however, particularly in the competitive International Health Insurance space, and so following some extensive research, Cigna are launching the following enhancements to new and existing members;

    • The core International Medical Insurance module is to include a new benefit for Accident and Emergency Room treatment for outpatient treatment when a member doesn’t go on to occupy a bed (Cover in full as standard), and also an expansion of their Mental and Behavioural health care coverage under a new benefit name.
    • The International Outpatient module is to include Genetic Cancer testing and Sleep Apnoea as new benefits. There will also be extended coverage in the Life Management Assistance programme to include access to online a self-help Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) programme.
    • In the International Health & Wellbeing module, there will be an increase in coverage for many of the available screenings.
    • The previous International Medical Evacuation module is being renamed to International Evacuation and Crisis Assistance PlusTM, as it will now include a worldwide comprehensive Crisis Assistance PlusTM programme, bringing significant value to globally mobile individuals. The service offers time-sensitive advice and coordinated in-country crisis assistance for risks that may occur when travelling.

    These enhancements bring, what was already a compelling offering, more up to date, particularly following recent market improvements to improve mental health coverage, and employers increasing levels of concern around keeping global mobile employees safe, wherever they are around the world. The International Private Medical Insurance market continues to evolve at pace, driven by a competitive insurer landscape and the changing needs of individuals and employers adapting to the challenges of working and living in different territories around the world.  

    Read our latest case study: Managing Expat Risk with a Medical Evacuation Plan

  • Now Health International Launch Telemedicine Service to UK Based Members

    Now Health International Launch Telemedicine Service to UK Based Members

    International Health Insurance provider, Now Health International, have announced this week that during the Covid-19 pandemic, they are launching a virtual doctor service to their members based in the UK, however the detail is important as the standard plan terms and conditions apply.

    With many people still uncomfortable with going to see their GP at their surgery, telemedicine services have seen usage swell by up to 400% over the last few months. Now Health International has now responded to this demand and is offering pay and claim coverage for telemedicine.

    In addition, Now Health has also agreed a preferred partnership with telemedicine service provider, Medicspot. Upon launch they introduced Medicspot as using “cutting edge innovation in medical technology to help improve the quality of healthcare for all. Their vision is to change lives with transformative care, one community at a time. Medicspot uses innovative technology to perform a full clinical examination of patients. This technology allows Medicspot to treat 70% more conditions than smartphone-based GP services.”

    It’s useful for members to note that, while Medicspot are Now Health’s preferred partner, International Private Medical Insurance members can use any recognised telemedicine service provider in the UK on a pay and claim basis during the pandemic. It is however important to note that reasonable and customary charges do apply, so if the claim is outside of standard charging practises there may be a shortfall that needs to be covered by the member. If you aren’t sure, we would recommend using Medicspot to ensure your claim is reimbursed in full.

    It is also worth pointing out that consultation fees and medication are covered in accordance with your plans benefits. This means that you can only use this service if you already have outpatient doctors consultations and/or prescription drugs benefits on your International Health Insurance plan. If you have an outpatient deductible, per visit excess or co-insurance, then these will also apply as they would do for a normal doctors visit.

    A growing number of International Health Insurance providers have started incorporating virtual doctor services into their products over the last 12 – 24 months. The insurers who have rolled this out as a core part of their offering are doing so for members internationally, rather than just the UK. During the pandemic many have also made it available to all their members, whether it was originally included on their International Medical Insurance plan or not.

  • Bupa Global enhances mental health coverage

    Bupa Global enhances mental health coverage

    Leading international health insurance provider, Bupa Global, has launched a range of improvements to the mental health coverage offered across its international health plans. 

    The improvements announced include:

    • Removal of mental health waiting period
    • Removal of mental health lifetime limits
    • Enhanced out-patient benefits to bring them in line with those of physical conditions
    • Remove of general exclusions for addiction, ADHD and self-inflected injury

     

    These enhancements have already been introduced to a large number of Bupa Global’s International Medical Insurance plans and they aim to have them applied to every plan by April 2021. 

    Bupa leads the way in mental health support

    The move represents a response to the growing demand for mental health support – and provides further value to its global health plans. It’s important to note, there are a range of international plans available for individuals and businesses – and so depth of coverage varies. However, mental health support is being increased across all these products.

    Bupa Global already had one of the more generous coverage levels for mental health conditions on their International Private Medical Insurance plans before these changes. Implementing these improvements now mean that when we compare International Health Insurance products, Bupa Global now lead the market on their approach to, and coverage for, mental health conditions.

    Will competitors follow suit?

    With mental health conditions effecting 1 in 4 people in their lifetime a large number of Bupa Global’s present and future customers should benefit directly from these improvements. This move may trigger an improvement from other insurers in a large and competitive International Health Insurance marketplace, which will now fall short of Bupa Global’s benchmark. Employers are increasingly interested in providing comprehensive mental health support to their teams, particularly for expatriate employees which can be under particular strain.

    ADHD is finally being addressed

    It’s also refreshing to see issues around neurodiversity being addressed too. For example, getting a diagnosis for a condition like ADHD is an important first step for many – and Bupa provides coverage for that. But they are also making available treatment related to some of the mental health issues which may stem from ADHD such as depression or anxiety.  

    Dr Luke James, Medical Director for Bupa Global and Bupa UK Insurance commented:

    “Mental health issues can affect everyone. Early diagnosis and treatment improves outcomes. Our new extended cover, which includes ongoing support for all mental health conditions, will ensure that more people than ever before can access the right help.”

     

    At Engage Health Group, we work across the health and wellbeing marketplace to ensure you find the right policies at the right price, and ensure your whole benefits package provides prices from across the market.

    Contact our expert team at enquiries@engagehealthgroup.co.uk or call 01273 974419 for FREE no-obligation advice and support.