The best health insurance plan for your employees starts with the right type, and a UK employer has four to pick from: insured group private medical insurance (PMI), a healthcare trust that pays claims out of the firm’s own fund, a health cash plan, or cover the staff fund themselves through work. An employee assistance programme (EAP) and a digital GP can be attached to any of them. Which type fits turns on how many people you employ, what you mean to spend and whether the company or the staff will pay. If the choice is yours to make, an FCA-authorised broker can explain what the insurers they deal with would offer a firm of your size; completing the form on this page arranges a free call-back from one. Prices are on the group cost page, and each insurer’s settings sit side by side on the group comparison page.
Medical insurance plans for employees: insured group PMI
Group PMI is a single policy owned by the employer, with each employee joining as a member. It covers eligible private treatment, and the employer’s premium is set afresh at each renewal. This is what most people mean by company health insurance plans for employees, and it is the type the other three are best measured against: a trust changes who carries the claims, a cash plan changes what gets paid for, and an employee-paid scheme changes who pays.
The insurers named here divide their group ranges by headcount, so the size of the firm decides which product is on offer at all. Bupa’s small business page (as archived by the Internet Archive on 19 September 2026) sets out "three levels of business medical insurance for teams of 2 to 249 people", named Key, Enhanced and Complete. Aviva sells Solutions to businesses with 1–249 employees and Optimum to those with 100 or more. AXA Health aims its Advance Mid-Corporate Plan at businesses with 65 to 250 employees, and WPA’s Enterprise Flexible Benefits is built for firms with 2 to 14 staff.
Inside each product the choices multiply again, from levels at one insurer to options picked one at a time at another, and hospital lists of different lengths. The comparison page handles those settings, the group scheme page explains how a group policy differs from one bought alone, and the small-business page covers what a firm of a handful of people is asked for before anyone quotes.
Healthcare trusts: when a larger firm funds claims itself
A healthcare trust is not an insurance policy. The firm puts money into a trust, claims are paid from it, and an insurer can be engaged to run it. Aviva’s corporate page (read 22 October 2026) ties the option to headcount: "If you have 500 or more employees, you may choose to fund your corporate private healthcare with a healthcare trust." The firm can set the trust’s rules, which gives it more say over the benefits, and Aviva can take on the day-to-day administration, including assessing and paying claims. Because a trust is not an insurance contract, the same page says, no Insurance Premium Tax is paid on the claims fund, and a trust can carry Stop Loss Insurance that absorbs costs above a certain level.
Other insurers run trusts as well. AXA Health’s corporate health insurance page (read 22 October 2026) offers a Master Trust and Health Trusts, with options in which AXA provides the day-to-day admin and management, and says a trust lets the business set the rules. WPA’s business page says its subsidiary WPA Protocol specialises in bespoke healthcare for large companies that self-insure through a Corporate Healthcare Trust. Vitality’s small business page (as archived by the Internet Archive on 23 August 2026) describes its corporate range as health insurance, healthcare trusts and employee wellbeing products for larger businesses. Aviva also lists Optimum Referral, which it says takes an open referral approach, as an alternative for firms that Optimum does not suit.
For a workforce well below Aviva’s 500 mark, whether a trust is worth setting up is one to put to the broker, who will explain it free of charge when they ring.
Health cash plans for staff: money back on routine costs
A cash plan pays back part of what an employee spends on everyday healthcare, such as a dental or optician appointment, rather than paying for private hospital treatment. WPA publishes the clearest example for employers. Its business page lists NHS Top-Up as "company paid and voluntary cash plans" for 3 to 49 employees, and the NHS Top-Up Corporate page (read 22 October 2026) prices it "from just over £1 per employee per week". That is WPA’s own starting figure, not a quote for your firm, and the page says premiums are per adult and include Insurance Premium Tax. There are three levels, 75% or 100% reimbursement is available on each invoice, and "Qualifying and deferment periods apply to some benefits, which means that Cash Plan members will not be able to claim straight away." The yearly limits per person for four of the cash benefits:
| Cash benefit (WPA NHS Top-Up Corporate) | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dental treatment | £65 | £100 | £150 |
| Optical treatment | £65 | £100 | £150 |
| Therapies | £200 | £300 | £400 |
| GP services | £50 | £100 | £150 |
Source: WPA, NHS Top-Up Corporate page, read 22 October 2026. Limits are per person per cash plan year, and WPA says a 30 day qualifying period applies to these cash benefits.
If a plan like this is on your list, a broker can price it beside an insured scheme for your own staff numbers, at no charge to you, starting from the enquiry form on this page.
WPA includes a remote GP service and an EAP on every level of NHS Top-Up Corporate, and lists claims submitted more than six months after treatment among its key exclusions. In its Precision Corporate Healthcare scheme, for 10 or more employees, WPA calls cash plans "a lower cost option that complement the NHS" and lets a firm combine them with health insurance and dental benefits in one scheme. For the wider choice between the two products, the cash plan versus insurance page compares the two, the Bupa cash plan page covers one insurer’s range, and the cash plan tax page covers how HMRC treats a plan provided through work.
Employee assistance programmes and digital GP: what comes with the plan and what is optional
An EAP is a confidential support line, usually with counselling, rather than a way of paying for treatment, and each insurer packages it differently. At AXA Health it is a cover option that "is only available as part of a business healthcare cover plan when chosen with at least one other cover option", in two versions: EAP Essentials, and EAP Premier, which adds up to eight sessions of counselling. Vitality’s small business page (the 23 August 2026 archive copy) lists an EAP among the added options, with 24/7 telephone advice and six confidential face-to-face counselling sessions a year. WPA puts an EAP, structured counselling and remote GP services in the health and wellbeing part of Enterprise Flexible Benefits, and says an EAP can be added to Precision.
Digital GP varies just as much. AXA Health offers corporate employees its AXA Doctor at Hand service, with phone or video appointments. Vitality’s core small business cover includes private GP appointments with a Vitality GP online within 48 hours. Bupa’s small business page gives members unlimited digital GP appointments through Blua in the My Bupa app, with a footnote: "Some corporate schemes don’t include access to digital GP, so please check your scheme documents or give us a call." Bupa adds that its EAP programmes and Digital GP are provided by Bupa Occupational Health Limited and are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or the Prudential Regulation Authority. Aviva lists a Digital GP among the wellbeing services on Solutions and Optimum and states: "These services are non-contractual and can be changed or withdrawn at any time."
So one label can mean a built-in benefit, a paid option or a perk the insurer may withdraw. Note which services your staff would actually use, then have a broker check on each quote whether every one of them is contractual, optional or discretionary; that free call starts with this page’s form.
When staff pay: employee-paid and voluntary plans, and the tax
Not every workplace plan is funded by the employer. AXA Health’s Employee Paid Private Healthcare page (read 22 October 2026) describes cover that costs the business nothing: with the employer’s permission, AXA contacts staff and invites them to join, and each person adds the cover options they want, subject to their own medical history. WPA offers its NHS Top-Up cash plans on a voluntary basis as well as company paid. Between those and a fully employer-paid scheme sits cost-sharing, where staff meet an excess or co-payment when they claim; each insurer’s version is on the comparison page, and the employer’s full bill is followed through on the employer cost page.
As for tax: the general shape only, and not tax advice. GOV.UK’s guidance for employers, titled "Expenses and benefits: medical or dental treatment and insurance" and read on 22 October 2026, says that where cover is not exempt and the employer arranges it and pays the insurer directly, the employer must "report it on form P11D" and "pay Class 1A National Insurance on the value of the benefit". HMRC’s Employment Income Manual (EIM21762, read the same day) charges the employee on the premium the employer pays for them, and for their family or household, reduced by anything the employee pays back towards it. In broad terms, then, an employer-paid scheme is normally a taxable benefit for each member. How a particular employee-paid or trust arrangement is treated turns on how it is structured, which is one for HMRC or an accountant. The wider position is on the tax and P11D page.
Which type to price: five things to settle first
None of these has a standard answer, but each one narrows the four types down:
- How many people would be covered? The insurers’ own lines above run to 249 for small-business products, 100 or more for Aviva’s corporate one, 65 to 250 for AXA’s mid-corporate plan, and 500 or more for Aviva’s trust.
- Is the aim treatment paid for, or money back on routine costs? That separates PMI from a cash plan, and a scheme such as WPA’s Precision can hold both.
- Does the firm want a set premium, or to carry some claims risk itself? An insured scheme charges a premium; a trust means funding the claims.
- Who pays, and does any of the cost move to staff through an excess, a co-payment or an employee-paid route?
- Which support services matter, and are they written into the contract?
Answers to these, even rough ones, make the first conversation with anyone quoting much shorter.
Practical points on running a staff plan
Can older employees join a company scheme?
Not at WPA: its business page says Enterprise Flexible Benefits and Precision Corporate Healthcare have no maximum joining age, though every member must be a current company employee or a family member, and NHS Top-Up Corporate has none provided the other joining criteria are met. Other insurers set their own rules, so ask for them alongside the quote.
Can employees’ children go on a workplace cash plan?
On WPA’s NHS Top-Up Corporate, each employee can include up to five children under 18 at no extra charge, with the same benefit limits as the employee. Children must live at the same address unless they are away in full-time education, and they may remain on the plan up to 21 (25 in full-time education) or until they leave the family home; the adult premium applies to family members over 18.
Can staff see a GP in person, or only by phone and video?
That depends on the scheme. Bupa’s small business page (the same 19 September 2026 archive copy) offers it alongside the digital GP in the My Bupa app: "You can now choose to speak to a GP face-to-face at 69 Bupa Health Centres nationwide." The other GP services described above are remote ones, by phone, video or online, so check which kind a quote actually includes.
Is an EAP the line to ring in an emergency?
No. AXA Health’s EAP page puts it plainly: "The EAP support line cannot respond to emergencies. If you require an urgent response or have a medical emergency please call 111/999 or attend A&E." Other providers describe their own lines, so read the service description that comes with the scheme.
Can different employees have different levels on a company cash plan?
On WPA’s NHS Top-Up Corporate, yes, with one exception: WPA says the Face to Face Counselling benefit, if chosen, must be made available to all cash plan members.
Once you know which of the four types you want priced, the next step is a free call-back, arranged from this page’s enquiry form; whichever broker rings can take your headcount and budget to more than one insurer.