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The benefits of healthcare trusts are prompting more corporate clients to consider a move away from traditional private medical insurance. Employers are looking at how to control their costs and have the flexibility to align their benefits with the needs of their workforce.
For intermediaries, promoting healthcare trusts can give you a practical way to add value for clients, demonstrate your expertise, and create new commercial opportunities. Trusts also open conversations about related insurance solutions and other employee benefits, which can help you build more holistic, long-term relationships.
Healthcare trusts are rising in popularity because they help employers manage costs, while designing benefits that match the real health needs of their people. That combination can help to reduce absenteeism and get people back to work quickly.
The creation of a trust enables targeted benefit design, from mental health support to musculoskeletal pathways, where it will have the most impact on their workforce.
Finally, there’s a clear human benefit: a well-designed trust can give clients and their people peace of mind that they’ll have access to the healthcare they require if that need arises.
Why work with AXA Health
Healthcare trusts can give your clients more control and better alignment between their health benefits and business goals, but success depends on clear objectives, sensible funding, and strong administration. At AXA Health, we’ve administered trusts for nearly 30 years. And today, we support over 200 corporate trusts covering more than half a million employees. We consistently deliver expert account management and practical insights that help healthcare trusts to thrive.
Here are six key points to consider when talking about healthcare trusts with your clients.
1. How hands-on does your client want to be?
A key early decision is whether to establish a standalone health trust or adopt a master trust. A health trust gives the employer complete ownership over what healthcare they would like to pay for, while a master trust employs an experienced administrator, like AXA Health, to act as trustee and handle the day-to-day governance. For clients who want oversight without the administrative burden, a master trust can offer that balance.
2. Bespoke benefits with a clinical focus
While trusts allow clients to design their benefits, they must be clinically led and compliant. Using claims insights and market benchmarking helps to deliver measurable value for both employees and the business.
3. Fund management is central
Claims are paid from the trust fund, so trustees or the master trust operator must ensure the fund is adequately capitalised and managed. Robust fund management requires realistic projections, sensible drawdown schedules, and regular monitoring and contingency plans.
4. Evaluate your clients’ need for predictability
Stop-loss insurance gives your clients certainty around their maximum possible liability. Using stop-loss can protect them against large individual claims or unusually high aggregate costs. Just remember it’s an insurance cost and will attract insurance premium tax.
5. Advise your client on key appointments
A trust is a legal structure. Trustees have fiduciary duties and must ensure legal, tax and actuarial compliance. Where a master trust is used, roles and reporting lines still need to be explicit to avoid ambiguity. You can help your clients navigate complex legal environments.
6. It’s important to think strategically
Trusts are not a short-term fix; they are a long-term funding and benefits strategy. With disciplined funding, clinically led benefit design and strong administration, trusts can align benefits to workforce needs while offering value.
