Employers taking more cautious approach to health benefits

The proportion of UK organisations offering company-funded PMI has dipped despite rising pressure on NHS services, according to Broadstone’s latest Employee Benefits Landscape survey.

The research, which is based on responses from 200 employers, shows a drop in the percentage providing PMI from 85% in 2023 to 80% in 2025.

While more organisations said they intend to expand cover, the findings indicate continuing cost pressures. The proportion of organisations with definite plans to introduce PMI in the next three years rose from 9% to 11%, while those considering doing so increased to 20% from 15%.

Broadstone said many employers who provide PMI have seen premiums rise in recent years, prompting some to consider whether they can continue to fund it. However, it is still highly valued by employees and considered an essential part of benefits packages, particularly in competitive industries.

The survey found increased use of nil-excess plans and a higher proportion (51%) offering unlimited outpatient benefits, which Broadstone said reflects fierce competition for talent in some sectors.

Company funding of other healthcare benefits remains mixed. Only a quarter of organisations provide a health cash plan to all staff with 65% not offering any form of cash plan. Just 17% offer dental insurance to all staff and only 4% said they had definite plans to introduce dental insurance in the next three years.

Broadstone said that set against the backdrop of a growing health cash plan market, the findings could reflect the particular priorities of its survey participants.

Mental health and emotional resilience provision has become a routine feature of employee benefits strategies, with 63% of surveyed employers offering related training and 77% providing employee assistance programmes.

However, wellbeing spending appears to be stabilising rather than increasing, with 67% of respondents reporting that budgets will remain unchanged over the next three years compared with 39% in 2023. Support for menopause has increased, with 20% offering company-funded measures, while support for neurodiversity and fertility remains low at 9% and 6% respectively.

Broadstone said it was clear that organisations are becoming more cautious but that the full picture is nuanced.

‘Employers may instead reallocate existing costs, streamline offerings to high-impact areas, such as financial wellbeing, or put their focus on employee engagement within existing provisions,’ it said.

Broadstone head of health & protection Brett Hill (pictured) said: ‘Our first report was delivered at a time when the nation was emerging from the aftermath of the global pandemic. Fast forward two years and the UK is still grappling with some of those consequences, in the form of significant and sustained pressures on its public healthcare system. In this report, we assess how businesses are increasingly taking these factors into account when reviewing their health, wellbeing and protection benefits to tackle these issues and ensure productivity remains high in the workforce.’