Unum UK has launched Health Plan 360, a new cash plan designed to support today’s workforce as employers face rising absence and productivity pressures.
The launch comes as employers face rising absence and cost pressures, with cash plans under scrutiny for their value.
Health Plan 360 was soft-launched earlier this year to a group of selected brokers, including Partners&, and is now being rolled out more widely. It integrates everyday cover such as dental, optical and physiotherapy with modern navigational support. The plan includes healthcare navigators who guide employees to the right services, coordinate care and support informed choices, all accessed through the Help@hand app in a single connected experience.
The proposition seeks to overcome low levels of understanding around cash plans. According to research commissioned by Unum, nearly three-quarters of employees did not know what a health cash plan was, and 17 per cent of employers were unsure whether they even offered one.
The launch is Unum’s first cash plan, building on six years of digital health experience with Help@hand.
Unum CEO Mark Till says: “We’ve built Health Plan 360 alongside advisers and businesses – not just for them – with the modern workplace in mind. Health Plan 360 is designed to overcome the challenges that have long held back traditional health cash plans – complexity, administration, and increasingly limited relevance to how people manage their health today.
“With nearly 3 million already protected by Unum in the UK and 175 years of heritage behind us, entering the health cash plan market is a natural step. But we don’t just want to enter – we want to reset it in a way that reflects the needs of advisers, employers, and employees.”
Till adds: “We know businesses are being asked to do more with less, and Health Plan 360 is designed to address this. For advisers, it’s built to quote and administer at pace. For employers, it delivers measurable outcomes while easing the burden of administration. And for employees, it’s shaped around our research on what they want and are likely to use – helping them to live well and work better.
“Whether it’s helping reduce avoidable high-cost claims for businesses already offering PMI, or giving smaller employers a more affordable way to support their people, Health Plan 360 from Unum makes everyday health and wellbeing simple, accessible, and genuinely valuable.”
Partners& client director Jeremy Reid says: “Unum’s Health Plan 360 brings a level of innovation that we have not seen to date in the market, focussing centrally on the needs of the client, and ensuring ease of access for the end user.”