Employers should ensure they have adequate health provision in place or risk facing unexpected costs, considering proposals announced this week, warned Jelf Employee Benefits.
The consultation document published on Wednesday, proposes to charge foreign nationals more to access the NHS.
"We are glad to see that the government is happy to introduce costs to foreign nationals for using the NHS as it will fall in line with many other countries' visa requirements," Jelf Employee Benefits international healthcare director Sarah Dennis said.
Yet the consultancy firm added that many advisers in the market could often do more harm than good, and advised employers to "do their homework" before buying insurance for their staff.
Some advisers will offer UK private medical insurance (PMI) that will only cover treatment and emergencies in the UK. However, Jelf pointed out that some employers may want to offer their staff the choice of having treatment in their home country and not the UK.
"I can't stress enough how important it is that if employers have staff coming to work in the UK on a contract for more than six months, or indeed if individuals are looking to work here on this basis, they must buy medical insurance," Dennis added.
"This proposal is a radical shift in how the NHS is utilised, and the last thing people want is a charge for healthcare that they weren't expecting, especially when it can be avoided with the right insurance."
