Adapting as times change means success for Medicash

Dec 31 2008 Bill Gleeson

HEALTHCARE provider Medicash may not be the biggest name in local business, but it is certainly one that many Liverpudlians recognise.

The mutual healthcare insurer has been providing local people with a cash plan to cover rainy days for 137 years.

Originally known as the penny- in-the-pound scheme, Medicash’s basic principles haven't changed. By paying small regular premiums, members of the mutual become entitled to a range of benefits to cover the cost of becoming ill.

Despite its age, the insurer is demonstrating alacrity in responding to changing conditions. Last year, for example, the Lord Street-based firm entered the retail market with a deal with supermarket chain Cooperative, another mutual.

Medicash is now run by chief executive Sue Weir, who took up the post in June this year. Prior to that, she worked as Medicash's finance director for four years, a job she moved to from a similar role at Merseyside Special Investment Fund.

Weir qualified as a Certified Accountant and spent her early career working in a variety of large and small accountancy practices including Cook & Co in Liverpool, Morris & Co in Chester, and Price Waterhouse back in Liverpool.

In 1994, she left accountancy practice to join Connexions, a Wirral Council-owned careers service. Weir then joined MSIF in 1999 as finance director. She said: “That was a fantastic experience.

“I had a lot of experience dealing with European funding issues while at Connexions and dealing with Government Office North West.”

Weir is clearly very pleased with the Co-op deal. She sees the two firms as having shared values.

“We have secured a relationship with the Cooperative to offer cash plans to their members and customers.

“We are delighted with this deal because the Co-op has such a reputation. They have similar ethical values to us, such as they won't invest in arms manufacturers and they give to healthcare charities and hospital trusts.”

As well as giving to charities, Medicash has recently assessed the organisation's impact on the environment by having its carbon footprint measured.

“We are going to offset our carbon footprint with an organisation called Cool Earth.

“We believe that will make Medicash the first carbon-neutral healthcare insurer.

“Every year, we will get that reassessed and we will also look at recycling more,” says Weir.

Cool Earth buys Amazonian rainforest to keep it for subsistence agriculture.

As well as the Co-op deal, other big new business won last year includes The Big Lottery Fund and container shipping line CMA CGM. These last two deals add 1,300 people to a total membership of 140,000.

Medicash has an annual turnover of £22m and assets of £18m.

Earlier this year, Medicash faced stern criticism from customers who were angered when the firm withdrew funeral costs, rehabilitation and convalescence cover and announced the closure of two North Wales convalescence homes.

The company blamed the £1m cost of running the homes, and said that few members used them.

The funeral benefits, first introduced in 1996, had been worth up to £1,500.

At the same time, Medicash announced the withdrawal of a range of other services including first night of in-patient hospital stays, birth of a child and child benefit.

However, new entitlements were also introduced, including optical and dental services, day care and personal injury.