Group health insurance plans form one of the popular benefits among employees in India, given increasing healthcare costs. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in India are under pressure to offer similar benefits to retain their employees. Given that SMEs expend considerable resources on training staff, they would be keen to avoid losing their employees to larger organizations. To this end, we examine the benefits of group health insurance for Indian SMEs and their employees.
What is group health insurance?
Before understanding how it benefits SMEs, it is a good idea to understand group health insurance. For an SME, this would be insurance taken by the employer for its employees and often, their dependents as well. The insurance company benefits from the high number of applicants in one group. The employees and the employers enjoy other benefits as discussed below.
The general benefits of group health insurance for Indian SMEs :
Corporate health insurance often has features that might not be available with individual health coverage:
- Immediate cover, that is, no specific waiting period
- No mandatory pre-coverage medical check-ups for anyone
- Cover for pre-existing conditions
- Maternity benefits for the employee or their spouse
Such provisions translate into the following benefits :
- Healthier employees
Generally, if employees know that they have group medical insurance, they are more confident about being able to deal with their healthcare needs. This relieves them of anxiety and is also likely to encourage them to undergo check-ups and tests on time. Such preventive measures will help avoid serious ailments down the road. Physical and mental health will make for better employees.
- Greater morale and higher retention
A company investing in an employee insurance scheme will signal to its staff that the company cares about them. This will raise morale and make for a better work environment. This, in turn, is likely to lower employee turnover.
- Tax benefits for your business
Firms incurring the expense of health insurance for employees can get tax advantages. Hence, they have a double benefit: helping employees deal with health crises and earning tax breaks.
Moreover, by getting group health insurance plans, entrepreneurs not only offer benefits to their employees but also encourage them to think about their own insurance needs and financial planning.
Issues SMEs might face when buying group health plans
There are three main issues that small businesses face when buying group health insurance. First, they could be smaller than the minimum group size that insurers prefer. So, most insurers will not even offer them group cover. Second, SMEs do not have the negotiating power to get good terms for themselves. Even if they wanted to, most SMEs might not know how to approach and discuss their insurance with insurers. Third, SMEs might have little leverage with insurers to process claims that might fall in a grey area. Similarly, endorsements and servicing requests take much more time for SMEs as compared to large companies.
How SecureNow can help SMEs?
If you run an SME and are interested in learning about the best group health insurance policy for your employees, get in touch with SecureNow. We directly address the issues that SMEs face in buying insurance. First, we work with insurers that are willing to place small groups; even just five people can be issued group cover. Second, we use our scale to negotiate terms for SMEs. This means that the prices and covers we get are better than what SMEs could get on their own. Finally, we have a specialized claim and endorsement team that represents all cases to insurers. We know what claims should get paid and pursue those vigorously.
If you need assistance finding the right group health insurance for employees in your establishment, SecureNow can help.
Contact us at 96966 83999 or write to us at support@secuenow.in and share your coverage requirements.
