@AC Benefits package
Well, the benefits are not the same, even if you set aside money to cover for sickness and insurance.
Back when I ran my own Ltd company, I was engaged by one of the Big Banks on a contract that was to run for a number of months.
Shortly after the contract started, I suffered a rupture of both distal brachialis tendons in my right arm (it's an age related issue that can happen if you don't warm up enough before doing some heavy lifting). Basically, my biceps were no longer attached at the elbow end in my right arm.
I obviously didn't go into work, and attended hospital to work out how it would be treated. The only serious treatment was surgery, but that would result in 6 weeks of having the elbow immobilized followed at best by 6 weeks of physio to get the arm working again, without the ability to drive, and with some pretty serious potential side effects.
Now I had income protection, but in order to make it affordable (at the time) it only kicked in after three months of lack of income, something I had catered for (I had money in the business account, but 3 months of paying salary would have wiped it out). But when I checked with the client, I was told that if I took that much time off, they would regard it as breach of contract, and would terminate the contract after about 4 weeks of non-attendance. At the time, it was not normal to have a clause for substitution, and my contract didn't have it.
Now tell me that the way illness is treated is the same. Even though I had made provision, I would have significantly lost out if I had the treatment, whereas if I had been a permie, I would have been given the time off to have the treatment at a significant proportion of full pay (the sickness policy of the Bank at the time allowed that), but as I was a contractor, I would lose the contract, possibly be charged with breach of contract, and not actually had any income (to my company) for the time I didn't work.
As it was, I decided to not have the surgery (the possible side effects were pretty alarming, including calcification of the elbow and nerve damage to my right hand), and returned to work as soon as I could safely drive. As a result, my arm functions, but it lacks strength and stamina.
But if I had been a permie, I may well have opted to have the surgery, knowing that the time off would have been paid for as long as it was necessary.