Make work more rewarding with healthcare cover

Cover for hospital procedures and operations, including surgery, plus radiotherapy and chemotherapy for cancer when you include Cancer Cover. 

Waiting for a diagnosis can be a worrying time. This option makes sure you or your employees can see a specialist on GP referral quickly if you become unwell. 

Help your employees look after their teeth and eyesight with cashback towards dentists’ fees, glasses, contact lenses and eye tests.

Cover when you're referred to an osteopath, physiotherapist, acupuncturist, or chiropractor as an outpatient.

Ensures employees with a GP referral are seen quickly by a specialist at a time and place suitable for them.

Look after more than just your employees’ physical health with cover for mental health treatment.

Cashback towards a private GP appointment, making it easier for you and your employees to see a private GP in person, at a time that’s convenient.

Provides even greater flexibility and choice over where your people are treated. Plus, extra cover for planned, pre-approved treatment abroad and cover for the routine management of specified chronic conditions such as asthma (available with our Business Health plan).

If they’re going through difficult times, such as divorce or money problems, this option gives your people a professionally trained expert to talk to; on the phone, or in person, depending on the chosen programme.

Whether travelling for business or pleasure, cover your people for emergency medical treatment when overseas. You will also have access to other travel-related benefits.

Cash back towards a health assessment which can provide guidance to help your employees make small changes to improve their health and wellbeing.

Help look after the health of your team via a contribution towards annual flu and travel vaccinations. 

Our small business guide to health insurance covers lots more FAQs, you can read it here. 

How does health insurance impact tax?

When providing private health insurance as an employee benefit to your team, it is considered to be a benefit in kind. Your employees will therefore need to pay tax on the benefit amount.
At the end of each tax year, employers have to complete a P11D form for every employee who has received expenses or benefits in addition to their salary (this doesn’t include routine business expenses and benefits like travel and company car fuel).

Please note that HMRC have announced that with effect from April 2027 all taxable benefits, including private medical insurance, will need to be payrolled. Forms P11D will no longer be available after the 2026/27 tax year and it is the employer's responsibility to ensure that they comply with the new mandatory payrolling process which commences on 6th April 2027. After that point, benefits provided to employees will need to be taxed in real time (i.e. throughout the year) via the monthly (or weekly) payroll process. Further guidance is available from HMRC here.

Read our blog post to find out more about how private medical insurance impacts tax

How much does business health insurance cost?

At AXA Health, we think that the best way for you to get the healthcare cover that’s right for your business and your budget is to let you build your plan yourself. That’s why we offer a range of healthcare cover options, so you only pay for the cover you need^. Plus, you can choose between our Business Health and Business Protect product, with the difference being that you and your employees would have access to less hospitals and specialists with Business Protect, but it also costs less. 

As well as tailoring your cover and choosing only the options you need, we also have a number of cost saving options available so you can look after your people whilst still keeping an eye on your bottom line. 

Find out more about our cost saving options.

^If you’re buying healthcare cover for 1-2 people only, you will need to include either the Treatment option or Diagnostics Only option in your plan.

What are chronic conditions?

Small business health insurance, in most cases, covers the cost of private treatment for new acute conditions that develop after your plan has started (depending on the details of your plan). Chronic conditions generally aren’t covered on most small business health insurance plans.

A chronic condition is a disease, illness or injury that has one or more of the following characteristics:

• It needs ongoing or long-term monitoring through consultations, examinations, check-ups and/or tests
• It needs ongoing or long-term control or relief of symptoms
• It requires your rehabilitation or for you to be specially trained to cope with it
• It continues indefinitely
• It has no known cure
• It comes back or is likely to come back

Please note: Our Extended Cover option, available with our Business Health product, covers routine care for some chronic conditions.

What is a pre-existing condition?

A pre-existing medical condition is any disease, illness or injury that:

• You have received medication, advice or treatment for in the five years before the start of your cover, or
• You have experienced symptoms of in the five years before the start of your cover whether or not the condition was diagnosed.

The process of underwriting determines whether pre-existing medical conditions are covered on your plan. The underwriting option that you choose can affect the cost of your healthcare cover. 

More information on the process of underwriting can be found in our Small Business Guide to Health Insurance.

Want to find out more?

If you still have questions, we've created our Small Business Guide to Health Insurance. The guide covers off a number of frequently asked questions, including:

• What underwriting options are available and what can’t I claim for?
• How does private health insurance impact tax?
• How does the claims process work?