I’m proud of Medicash’s achievements

REGARDING the article about Medicash donating to charities.

I am 83-years-old, disabled due to an industrial injury when I was 35. I have been a member of Medicash (under previous names) since I was a teenager.

A number of years ago, benefits to members were reduced and the convalescent homes were closed.

They had been a godsend for myself, my wife, for many older people, and for those with chronic illness.

If the Medicash fund was in surplus, I feel it should have been returned to the members or previous benefits should have been restored.

The fund was set up to benefit the membership and not charities selected by who?

Carl Leckey MBE, Wirral

RESPONSE from Sue Weir, Chief Executive, Medicash

THE convalescence homes previously operated by Medicash in Wales were owned by The Merseyside Health Benefits Council Charitable Trust (the Charity) and not directly by Medicash Health Benefits Ltd (Medicash).

Over the years, Medicash made several sizeable loans to the Charity to ensure the upkeep of the homes, but with the healthcare market changing, annual costs in excess of £1m and usage dropping to below 1% of the overall policy base, the Board made the difficult decision to close these centres in 2008.

Significant additional expenditure would have been required to modernise this site if it had been kept open.

The purpose of the Charity, now known as The Medicash Foundation, was always to support health and wellbeing related charities and community projects and not just the running of the convalescence homes.

Medicash’s goal is to keep its operating costs as low as possible, whilst keeping claims ratios as high as possible without running at a loss. As such, Medicash is proud to say that its direct policyholders have only had one premium increase since 2008.

Having grown significantly from just over 100,000 policyholders in 2008 to over 300,000 today, any surpluses made are very small when considered as a per capita amount.

As such, over recent years Medicash has taken the decision to pass on some of its trading surplus to the Medicash Foundation to help support the vital work that many of these charities do in the community.

Without this support, especially during the pandemic, many of these charities and their services would have either been lost or significantly curtailed.

As Chief Executive of Medicash, I am proud of the wide range of health cover that we provide for our policyholders right across the UK, proud of our local roots and proud of the impact our charitable work, through the Medicash Foundation, has had.