COVER Magazine welcomes you to the Health and Wellbeing 360 online broadcast.

 As more people are accessing private healthcare due to poor access to care, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic, more people are questioning how far PMI will go. In 2022, research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank found 31% of UK adults struggled to access the care they needed during the pandemic, with 54% believe it is harder to speak to a GP now compared to before COVID.

Despite more people than ever accessing private healthcare options, there is still an unbalance. What is the potential direction of travel for the future of healthcare? Will PMI grow and work in tandem with NHS? Is this a desirable outcome for consumers, insurers, and providers?

In this session, our panel of experts will discuss:

• Does a two-tier healthcare system undermine the values of the NHS?
• Are we on the road to full-scale privatised healthcare?
• Will a two-tier system increase health inequality or balance the scale?
  

 Vocational Rehabilitation is still not a widely accessed product in the UK. Is there an understanding of the services that can be accessed to get IP and PMI claimants back to work?

Within PMI, value-added services given to employers and products that focus on prevention, and what support is offered and accessed for those waiting to return to work? Support is provided to parents that have taken maternity with “keeping in touch” days, so what about employees that have taken an extended leave due to health?

In this session, our panel of experts will discuss:

• Where does vocational rehabilitation sit within the IP and/or PMI journey?
• When do claimants need support to return to the office the most?
• How do you market the value of vocational rehabilitation as a valuable asset in the prevention stack for customers to access?
  

 The barriers to health insurance often include cost, complexity and the sustainability of traditional PMI policies. How has one provider changed their market offerings to serve a wider customer base? We're joined by Gavin Shay, Distribution Director and Co-Founder of Equipsme, where we learn more about their origin story, finding the middle ground between PMI & cashplans and how they're engaging our customer base.

 Do we need to move away from our current thinking about insurable risk? As the focus on wellbeing grow, attention moves away from the traditional principles that have built the insurance industry. How do we combine the two?

  The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute recently conducted research exploring the experiences of people with current or past experiences of mental health problems when buying and claiming insurance. The session will dive into the key findings from this research, such as the higher premiums, exclusions and declines people with mental health problems can experience, and the impact this can have on people’s mental health. What needs to change so that people with mental health problems can get a fair deal on insurance?

 Thank you for tuning into COVER's Health & Wellbeing 360!