By my understanding, private insurance in the UK is supplemental to NHS coverage. You might never use it in practice, but you don't relinquish it either. Basically, having NHS coverage is the default state below which you cannot fall.
Yes. Having private health cover allows you to jump the queue for certain elective procedures, and gets you in a nicer-appointed hospital in certain circumstances, but you'll never be denied NHS care because of it.
It seems to me that providing group health insurance is a perk, akin to a free gym membership: something that you might say "ooh, that's nice" in reference to.
Pretty much. I don't know what kind of encouragement that companies get to offer it, but either it's just something that you do to attract people -- i.e. it's an expected part of the benefits package, like employer-matched pension contributions, or the company figures that healthy people get more work done.
That said, I didn't sign up for my company's scheme, partly because (as Peter says) I'd end up paying extra tax, and partly because I can never get past the "how much do you drink per week?" question on the application form.
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