Brokers don't want to be part of rehabilitation and the public is failing to be convinced of the benefits of PMI These are the gloomy conclusions facing the health insurance and rehabilitation market.
Brokers take the view that rehabilitation doesn't offer them adequate profit margins to make it a worthwhile business option (page 10).
Benefits to brokers working in rehabilitation do exist, but these are not as straightforward as earning a commission from, say, a motor fleet policy.
An innovative approach is the key.
And rehabilitation isn't happening in the way it should (page 26).
Lip service is paid to it, but nothing much else. Yet this seems curious given the compelling case for rehab.
Alex MacLachlan highlights the importance of intervening in an injury case at the earliest opportunity (page 22).
Failure to do so can result in the injury becoming "institutionalised" and costing the insurer a fortune.
But there is a real problem of qualified staff within rehabilitation (page 18).
The shortfall means staff have to be brought in from Australia, New Zealand and the US.
One way around this conundrum is to introduce proper training and qualifications to keep people in this specialist field.
The case for PMI has a passionate advocate, Stephen Walker, chair of the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries, who says PMI is a better alternative to the behemoth that is the NHS (page 6). Persuading those in a position of power that this argument has validity is his biggest challenge.
And as an industry, insurance has a role to play in reducing the number of people on incapacity benefit, alleviating financial pressure on the government and ultimately all taxpayers (page 26).
So many prizes are to be won within the health market they just have to be sought.
