SYS Financial Urges Employers to Review Health Insurance Plans as Costs Continue to Rise

SYS Financial is calling on Irish employers to review the structure of their employee health insurance plans as rising premiums and an increase in the Government health insurance levy place additional pressure on company benefits budgets. SYS Financial says the combined effect means many companies could face significantly higher costs unless they reassess how their schemes are structured.

SYS Financial says employers should examine the overall design of their health insurance offering, rather than focusing solely on premiums. This can include reviewing excess levels, hospital cover, outpatient benefits and how different plan options align with the needs of employees.

The firm also cautions that companies may be duplicating benefits unnecessarily, particularly where Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) are already included within health insurance plans. In many instances, this represents wasted spend. SYS Financial says employers should also consider selecting a default level of cover and allow employees to top up the default cover to suit their personal circumstances.

Ger Conalty, Head of Health Insurance Advisory Services at SYS Financial, said; “Many organisations continue to renew the same plan year after year without examining whether it still reflects how their workforce actually uses healthcare services. A structured review can often uncover alternative plans that deliver the same or better benefits at a more sustainable cost. We also regularly see cases where companies are paying separately for services that are already included in their health insurance policies. For example, many plans now include access to counselling or mental health support, which can duplicate standalone EAP services companies may have.”

From this year, the Government levy applied to health insurance policies has increased by €48 per adult and €16 per child, adding to already rising premiums across the market. SYS Financial says the impact will be felt most acutely by smaller businesses, where even modest price increases can place strain on employee benefits budgets.

According to SYS Financial, employers should also remind staff that rising health insurance premiums may result in higher Benefit-in-Kind (BIK) liabilities for employees on company-paid schemes.
SYS Financial advises companies across Ireland on employee benefits, corporate health insurance and financial wellbeing programmes as part of its wider advisory services.