Canada Life enhances group protection insurance

Canada Life has added a “treatment sourcing service” provided by Medical Care Direct (MCD) to policies free of charge.

For those wishing to take the private medical route at a time when the NHS is under increasing strain, MCD can assist them in arranging cost effective treatment/surgery, Canada Life said.

It can identify consultants and hospitals that 'most closely match' an individual’s specified criteria for diagnosis and/or hospital treatment and negotiate the best terms available across the UK. This may be price, location, a particular hospital or a specific consultant.

Paul Avis, Marketing Director at Canada Life Group Insurance, comments:

“We aim to support employees and family members both pre- and post-claim better than any other insurer, as we believe that Group Insurance should provide much more than just a financial benefit.

“Launched in anticipation of the Government’s Health and Work Service pilot in December, we believe, by its full roll-out in 2015, employers will be using a form of medical treatment sourcing, albeit within the £500 limit for employer tax exemption. This allows employees without private medical cover, or those covered by PMI but with exclusions, access to faster treatments where there are long NHS waiting lists. Plus, for all employees and immediate family members, convenient fixed-price treatments take the stress out of sourcing personally-funded healthcare.”