What are the advantages of Group Health Insurance?
Group health insurance offers coverage to a group of people, as members of a society or employees of a company. The organization can either self-design a plan or choose a pre-planned insurance policy from the insurer.
The policy is beneficial for both employees and employers. Let’s have a look at the benefits:
Advantages of a Group Health Insurance For the Employer:
- Motivated Employees: In today’s scenario, when medical costs reached a great height, corporate health insurance may consider as an added benefit. By ensuring against higher hospitalization costs, employers can motivate their employees.
- Helps in Retention of Employees: These days more and more companies have become employee-centric and corporate health insurance has become one of the most preferred benefits to attract and retain talented employees. The group policies also cover the family members of the employees, making the employees feel more attached to the organization.
- Low Cost: Group health insurance policies can be bought at low or no cost to the employee, as it is like buying in bulk, gives discounts.
- Easy Premium Payment Options: Depending on the company’s policy, an employer can choose to pay the premium either monthly, quarterly, or yearly as per their convenience.
- Tax Benefits: Employers get tax benefits on group health insurance, and the policy can help in reducing their tax liability.
Advantages of a Group Health Insurance For the Employees:
- Default Insurance Cost: All members of the group get the ‘auto cover’ simply by being part of that group. It ensures basic insurance coverage to people who are without any insurance.
- Institutional Support During a Claim: As irrespective of the health state, offers insurance to all members of the group, it is of great value to people who are looking for health insurance but cannot get it at an affordable rate because of their current health state.
- No Medical Check-Up Is Required: When it comes to group health insurance, you don’t need to undergo a medical checkup and submit medical reports to get enrolled under a group health plan.
- Maternity Coverage from Day 1: From Day 1, maternity expenses are covered by the group health cover in almost all companies. It means, if you join a company and become part of a group health insurance, you will get maternity benefits on an immediate basis.
- No Waiting Period: There is no concept of a waiting period in group health covers and thus, even illnesses like heart issues, diabetes, etc.; covered from Day 1.
- Useful for Employee’s Wellbeing: Group health insurance policies play a crucial role in securing the health of employees and their families.
Extra Benefits with Riders
By adding riders like critical illness and accidental insurance to the health plan, the employer can expand the coverage for critical illnesses. There are various optional benefits like dental treatment, the cost of spectacles, reimbursement of ambulance costs. Which can be availed on payment of additional premium.
Case on Group Health Policy
Established in 2000, IT Company Pvt. Ltd. (ICPL) is one of the fast-emerging e-commerce companies in Delhi. With a workforce of more than 100 employees, last year, the company bought group health insurance to cover its employees. The policy not only covers the employees but also their dependents.
Shravan Verma is the lead architect at the ICPL and suffered from Asthma when he joined the organization. Covered him under the group policy from day one. Recently had to hospitalize him, due to breathing issues in winter pollution in Delhi. His total hospitalization was only for about three days and would’ve cost his pocket Rs. 65,000 if not for the cashless benefit provided by the employer’s group health insurance.
ICPL may be an emerging company, but it’s already generating buzz in the industry for employee-friendly policies. Their HR policies are comparable to the best in the industry, and thus the firm easily attracts the best talent. Group health insurance is a part of this strategy.
As ICPL’s clients, scattered all over the country, continent, and even to other continents like South America and Canada. The health policy opted for allows employees to get cashless hospitalization benefits. At more than eight thousand hospitals across the country. And get reimbursements for any medical treatments they must avail of while abroad.
