EXCLUSIVE: Syngenta has saved £100,000 per year over three years since switching from a fully insured private medical insurance (PMI) scheme to a self-funded health plan.
The agri-science firm implemented the plan three years ago with provider Simplyhealth to save on costs, as well as to engage its 1,500 UK employees and reduce long-term absence.
Peter Evans, UK reward manager at Syngenta, said: “Our previous health plan did not quite fit our needs or our budget. Now we have a plan that we can control, adapt and monitor, which means we can always keep costs in check. We find it is very cost-effective.”
Syngenta made the switch after looking at its spend profiles and determining that self-insuring would be a lower-cost option. One of the significant savings arises from the fact that the firm pays insurance premium tax only on the administration of the scheme.
“Initially, when we decided to move across, the savings were estimated on what we were paying previously versus what we knew our claims history was,” said Evans. “After we moved across, we could directly compare the two costs.”
Read more about private medical insurance (PMI) schemes