What are the big health and wellbeing challenges for HR and how can cash plans help?
HR teams are under growing pressure. With government figures showing 2.8 million people out of work due to ill-health, and sickness absence becoming a major issue – there’s a clear challenge. At the same time businesses are navigating tighter budgets, changes to national insurance, and the ongoing need to boost productivity – all of which place even greater demands on HR to find effective, sustainable solutions.
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Traditional cash plans just haven’t kept pace with the needs of today’s workforce. They’re often fragmented, requiring employees to access services across multiple platforms, while employers struggle with clunky administration and limited insights.
That’s why we created Health Plan 360. A modern health cash plan designed to meet today’s workforce challenges – not just a patch on an older system. Delivered to people through our Help@hand app, it brings everything together in one place, allowing employees to manage both their services and claims through a single interface. Meanwhile, employers receive clear, aggregated, and anonymised reporting on usage and outcomes via an online dashboard, helping them to shape more relevant health and wellbeing strategies.
We built Health Plan 360 to be a strategic business asset that simplifies administration, delivers measurable outcomes and maximises return on investment.
How have cash plans moved from a ‘nice to have’ to a must-have for retention?
Some still see health cash plans as budget versions of private medical insurance (PMI), but when they’re designed well, that really shouldn’t be the case. They’re two very different products. For everyday health and wellbeing needs – like physiotherapy, mental health support or nutrition advice for example – health cash plans are often the first line of support for employers. A plan like Health Plan 360 brings services like these together in a single, accessible package. We’ve designed it in a way to help people live well and work better.
What stops employers from making the most of cash plans?
Research told us that traditional plans can often feel cumbersome with employers left juggling disjointed platforms and poorly defined benefits, making them hard to promote and administratively heavy. That’s one of the key issues we set out to fix with Health Plan 360 by offering a streamlined employer experience that shows how staff engage with the services.
Why don’t more employees use cash plans?
Awareness is a major barrier. Research we carried out during the design stage showed that 73% of employees don’t understand what a cash plan is, highlighting the need for much clearer communication. Complexity is another issue. Employers often struggle to explain how a package of different services fits together. With Health Plan 360, we’ve made those services far more connected. For example, if a GP refers someone to a physiotherapist, the referral is triggered automatically and the appointment is arranged – no letters, no separate logins. One interaction leads seamlessly to the next. That kind of integration drives real engagement.
What can providers do to better support HR teams?
HR teams tell us they want clear, simple stories to share with employees. For us, it’s as straightforward as… “Download Help@hand and get instant access to everyday health support”. But technology alone isn’t enough. People still value the human element – which is why we’ve built healthcare navigators into Health Plan 360. These are specialists that help employees understand their options and connect them to the right care, whether that’s choosing between a GP or physio, seeking a second opinion, or who they should speak to.
Why is now the right time for a more modern approach?
Workforce health is one of the biggest challenges employers face. Absence levels are high, and HR teams are expected to meet growing needs with shrinking resources. Legacy health cash plans simply weren’t built for this. That’s why we spent over two years developing Health Plan 360 and address these pressures head-on, providing employees with seamless support for everyday wellbeing, and giving employers measurable data to demonstrate impact. The shift is about repositioning health cash plans from a “nice-to-have” perk to a central part of an organisation’s health and wellbeing strategy.
How important is it for cash plans to link with other wellbeing benefits?
It’s critical. Our health cash plan supports physical health, mental health, and lifestyle changes in one joined-up model. We call it connected health because services refer between each other, rather than sending the problem back to the individual. One interaction can guide someone through the entire process of getting the right care and treatment. Employees don’t just want health support – they need it to be accessible, joined-up, and genuinely effective. A physical health issue can often lead to a mental health issue, so solutions must work holistically. That’s why we designed Health Plan 360 to meet the real needs of today’s workforce. We believe it can redefine how employers and employees manage health and wellbeing at work.
