Keep Britain Working Review ‘unprecedented’ recognition of what GIP offers – Bridger

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Keep Britain Working Review 'unprecedented' recognition of what GIP offers - Bridger

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Services offered through group income protection (GIP) have been acknowledged by the Keep Britain Working Review as central to supporting people with ill health staying in work.
Aviva Health UK CEO/MD Steve Bridger says recent interactions with the independent review team, headed by Sir Charlie Mayfield, show an unprecedented level of appreciation of the value of the prevention, retention, early intervention and rehabilitation services offered through GIP products.
The review team is in a phase of ‘intensive engagement’ through April and May, and will soon unveil an advisory board to help inform the process.
The report says there are currently nearly 800,000 or 40 per cent more people of working-age who are economically inactive for health reasons than there were in 2019. The growth in the number who are becoming economically inactive for health reasons is nearly 10 times the growth of the working age population.
It also notes there has been a surge in the number of people with work-limiting health conditions between 2015 and 2024. The largest increases were observed among younger people (aged 16 to 34) with an increase of 1.2 million or 77 per cent, and older people (aged 50 to 64) with an increase of 0.9 million or 32 per cent. There were increases of 530,000 younger people whose main health condition was mental health related, and 140,000 older people whose main health condition was musculoskeletal.
Bridger says: “I have sat through a lot of these things and this is the first time I’ve heard anyone actually say and then put in print that it’s about prevention, retention, early intervention. Which is what GIP does.
Bridger noted that Mayfield is taking a keen interest in the role of insurers in supporting the Keep Britain Working objectives, with the review lead set to visit Aviva to understand how it addresses rehabilitation.
While Bridger stresses that tax incentives for workplace health and rehabilitation services are not on the agenda, we could see Government setting out best practice guidelines for corporates, and potentially a national health at work standard for smaller employers, that would give guidance or information on how to support employees to stay in work.
But he cautioned that there will be no quick fix, and firm Government action could take years.
Bridger says: “My takeaway would be there is there is good interest and there is good acknowledgment of what is fundamentally at the core of what we’re all about, which is prevention, retention, early intervention, rapid rehab, case management. This should be absolute cause for people to think positively on this engagement [by the review], and that is great intermediary opportunity for market growth. Recognising the value of insurance is a big step, and GIP it is not that expensive per head.
“Whilst there’s no badge of a product in this review, and that would be wrong anyway, the components of what we do that make us what we are, and the great outcomes we give customers, are absolutely front and centre in the wording of this review.”