Of the 1.8 million employees who accessed healthcare services through health or protection insurance in 2022, 1.3 million (75%) relied on workplace-provided schemes to do so, according to research by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
Its Growing demand – increased use of health and protection services in 2022 report also found that almost 600,000 (87%) of the 700,000 people included in the research who used virtual GPs in 2022 did so through their employer’s scheme. The number of virtual GP appointments made also grew to 1.4 million appointments across the year, a 92% increase on 2021 and nine times more than 2019.
In addition, insurers arranged 1.2 million mental health counselling and therapy appointments in 2022. A total of 94% of these were accessed through a workplace scheme, with 192,000 of the 200,000 people who used the services doing so through workplace insurance.
Dr Yvonne Braun, director of policy, long-term savings, health and protection at the ABI, said: “Keeping people healthy and in work is vital for our economic growth and productivity as a country. Our latest data demonstrates that there is huge demand for health services provided by workplace insurance. The data also shows an exponential rise of virtual GP appointments, a good example of the speed and flexibility of health services insurers provide through the workplace.”
Brett Hill, head of health and protection at consultancy Broadstone, added: “Employers are playing an increasingly important role in the health of the nation at a time when economic inactivity because of chronic illness is surging. With employers no longer able to rely on the NHS to maintain the health of the UK’s workforce, it is clear that businesses will need to continue investing in healthcare benefits and support services if they want to protect and improve the wellbeing and productivity of their employees.”
