Interviews

Protection Review: virtual interview: Jill Davies, Chief Executive, Westfield Health.

 

 

1. How did you feel personally about winning the Protection Review

award this year?

 

I was both surprised and delighted to win the Protection Review ‘Personality of the Year’ award this year. Surprised because as chief executive of a health cash plan provider in the past the work that we do has sometimes passed under the protection sector’s radar. I am proud of what is being achieved at Westfield Health and it was excellent for this to be noticed and applauded by Protection Review.

 

 

2. Do brokers give HCPs as much attention as they should?  And what are

the main markets brokers should focus on?

Brokers still do not give HCPs as much attention as they should, and many do not appreciate the extra income that can be generated by the often large numbers involved with HCPs. Many larger organisations do allocate additional budget over and above their PMI spend to cover, on an ad hoc basis, some of the things a cash plan covers i.e. eye tests, consultations and scans, physiotherapy. Introducing a HCP can control such an open ended spend and give an excellent return on investment.

 

In this current economic market the trusted cash plan can be an exceptionally good way to reward and motivate staff.

 

 

3. Do you expect to see the boundaries between HCPs and PMI

disappearing in future?

 

The boundaries are clear and I do not see them disappearing. However as the NHS has to cut its cloth, there are bound to be areas that HCPs begin to cover that have traditionally been PMI territory - for instance Westfield’s Surgery Choices surgical cover for non-urgent operations. Generally, I do think that the profile of HCPs will rise, with companies recognising the value a HCP represents being ideal for covering the whole workforce as perhaps PMI is only available to some managers.  

 

 

4. What strategies are you adopting to help people keep their HCP cover

going during the recession?

 

In response to policyholder research, Westfield has increased reimbursement levels on its most popular benefits on its core Advantage and Good4you plans. Optical, dental and dental trauma benefits have each been increased by an average of 5% and the daily allowance on the day surgery benefit has been increased by an average of 10%.

Westfield is also taking this opportunity to encourage employers to pay premiums for their employees, by introducing significant new benefits to its corporate paid Advantage Plan. These benefits are not available on our voluntary Advantage Plan.

As a not-for-profit organisation we aim to keep our premiums as low as is viable across all our plans. Traditionally, and backed by research, the cash plan tends to be retained in recessionary times.

 

5. How easy is it to get individuals and groups to increase their cover

once they have started a plan?

 

An honest answer would be that at the moment it is tough to persuade individuals to increase their level of cover. Both consumers and employers are scrutinising costs in these trying financial times. However we have had some success in working with existing corporate clients to add modules to their cover, such as extra cover for dependent children or increasing their chosen level of cover.

 

 

6. HCPs started out of the Victorian social reform movement. Is there

still a need for HCPs today given the NHS and Welfare State?

 

It is an interesting fact that, before the NHS was formed in 1948, there were 20m UK cash plan policyholders. Now there are approximately 3m. So, as the economic climate toughens there is potential for the market to grow as the need for individuals to have additional health cover to support the services offered by the NHS is certainly growing. As we look ahead this trend is set to intensify as the NHS itself comes under increasing funding pressure and cuts are made particularly at the non-urgent and ‘everyday’ end of healthcare. Certainly service providers’ contracts such as dentists and GPs, together with NHS changing strategy, means many more opportunities exist for the cash plan.

 

 

7. Does the Government understand what HCPs offer and should it do more

to promote them?

 

Westfield will always take every opportunity to lobby politicians, whatever their party, to persuade them of the case for HCPs in today’s healthcare environment. But I do think government, whatever its political colour, should be playing a greater role in informing the public about the role that HCPs can play in supporting the NHS services and helping people to budget for their everyday healthcare needs.

 

After all Government requires that companies should provide eye tests for their employees for instance. Perhaps companies who purchase HCPs should be rewarded with greater tax incentives.

 

 

8. Does the FSA understand HCPs and is regulation now a real burden for

organisations like Westfield?

 

FSA regulations such as ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ (TCF) and ‘Principle Based Regulation’ (PBR), together with evidence-based outcomes to policies and procedures are embedded throughout the organisation. It has however been a difficult journey to distinguish the difference in the FSA’s treatment of our market and the PMI market.

 

Costs have increased considerably because of the burden of regulation, but Westfield has always operated for the benefit of its customers and embraces its objectives.

 

 

9. You now offer a surgical cash plan through Patient Choice. Do you

see Westfield branching out into other types of cover in future?

 

Surgery Choices has proved a very popular benefit and I think when we introduced it to the market, it made many brokers sit up and take notice of Westfield and HCPs for the first time. We are always looking at further innovation and are considering several options at the moment - watch this space....

 

 

10. Are we too parochial in the UK? Should we be thinking more about

taking things like HCPs into mainland Europe?

 

We are always looking internationally for examples of best healthcare practice and innovative ideas to inspire new benefits or changes to existing benefits. Many countries around the world do of course already operate HCP type of healthcare policies.

 

Westfield has also for many years operated a plan for the States of Jersey Government and we administer the government benefits scheme. So we are knocking at mainland Europe’s door!

 

 

11. Most types of health and protection insurances pay out a relatively

small number of claims every day or week; mostly for quite large sums.

How do you physically cope as an organisation with paying out so many claims

every day?

 

During the last financial year we processed an unprecedented 684,000 claims and of these 75% were paid directly into policyholders’ bank accounts i.e. by direct credit. This is made possible by systems developed by our own in-house IT team. Technology will continue to play an increasingly important role. For example more than 50,000 e-mail remittance advices were sent in 2008-2009 – part of a 150% increase in e-mail correspondence. This means that we are delivering more correspondence in an environmentally friendly and cost saving way, which undoubtedly has helped to contribute to the fact that although process volumes were up 4.5%, we were able to control administrative costs. Our externally audited customer service standards remain outstandingly high.

 

 

12. And does that change the nature of the relationship with customers

compared to say what a life or PMI insurer would have?

 

There is a difference in the relationship we have with our policyholders. We are paying for everyday healthcare claims rather than claims for more serious conditions. Our whole ethos is to give our policyholders the best possible value for money by keeping premiums as low as possible and our benefits as high as possible, which we are well placed to do with our mutual not-for-profit status.

 

We aim to make our claims process as simple and accessible as possible and pride ourselves that 100% of claims are normally paid within five working days.

 

 

August 2009