Long term care should be one of the first areas to benefit from a more integrated approach, writes Debbie Cooper
An opinion poll conducted by ICM the week before the General Election stated that the number one issue likely to influence voters was the health service. It is likely that, four or five years from now, the success or failure of the Government in delivering health services will be a key factor for floating voters when making their choice.
The cornerstones of Labour's approach to health and welfare include instilling in individuals a responsibility to protect and provide for themselves, genuine help for those unable to help themselves and an end to the dependency culture and state funded services free at the point of delivery through a mixed community of service providers.
In order to be able to deliver on promises, the Government will need to be inclusive in its approach to the private and voluntary sectors. Both are able to supply a wide range of complimentary skills to service provision and the Government's need for public/private partnerships should be seen in a positive light by insurance protection providers.
In terms of health provision, it may also benefit the private sector to give greater attention to building partnerships which complement the NHS in areas which the latter struggles to address. Areas such as health promotion, absence management, vocational rehabilitation and care for those with chronic conditions may enhance client propositions by building upon the traditional strengths of the NHS in treating the sick.
Long term care (LTC) ought to be one of the first areas to benefit from a more integrated approach. However, there is a danger that regional variations and definitions of care aimed more at limiting public expenditure than defining needs based requirements may make this more, not less difficult to achieve.
The likely regulation of and the introduction of the proposed CAT standards for LTCI are designed around today's products. The standards will need to be able to respond to future market developments, for example, LTCI plans designed for early intervention.
Further developments will occur within other protection products, such as income protection. Initiatives are likely to include early intervention to enable more effective rehabilitation and absence management. Incentives could be provided to support such developments, such as payments for those returning to work.
The introduction of stakeholder pensions brings with it the requirement for non-exempt employers to designate a scheme for its employees by October this year. In other parts of the world, this designation has extended to some forms of health insurance. This is unlikely under the current government, however, employers could be encouraged to manage the health of their workforce more effectively. This is an area where incentives could be used to build an absence management code of practice.
Even if designation of health products is a step too far, employees could come to regard the workplace as the gateway to protection products. This could open the door to growing sales of protection products either using group principles or facilitating the ownership of individual products ' helping the Government grow self-provision and turn the tide of dependency.
