The employer purchases a group or corporate insurance on behalf of employees. This is one of the key benefits received by employees from employers. At times, Group insurance health plans cover the family members of the employees.
Besides offering access to affordable health coverage services, it also benefits the employers for retaining the employees and gets tax benefits.
Key features of the plan:
- Offers a cashless facility and direct settlement of the bills with the hospital.
- Covers pre and post hospitalization expenses for a specific period.
- Extends cover to critical ailments.
- The policy also covers domiciliary expenses (Domiciliary Hospitalization – medical treatment for a period exceeding three days for illness/disease/injury which in the normal course would require care and treatment at a Hospital)
- It provides cover for pre-existing diseases after payment of extra premium.
- This plan may offer maternity benefits.
- Daycare procedures covered.
- Few insurance companies cover Non-Allopathic Treatments for a specified limit.
Reasons to buy group health insurance (From both employer and employee perspective)
Employee:
- Encourages employees to maintain their health actively and improves their access to services that may otherwise be unaffordable.
- Health coverage protects them financially from burdensome debts arising from significant illnesses or injuries.
- Deducting the cost of the premium from the employee’s salary before taxes are calculated, increases the employee’s take-home pay and lowers the amount of the employee’s taxable income.
Employer:
- Lower your hiring costs because it is a strategy to retain talented employees.
- Reduce absenteeism and decrease risks associated with poor health in the long run.
- Motivational incentive, i.e., employees tend to be happier and more satisfied with their jobs when they are offered group insurance.
Advantages:
- Provides additional health coverage for employees who are already covered under other health plans.
- Employees can avail maternity benefits.
- Pre-existing medical conditions of the employees are covered by group insurance policies.
- Employee coverage is not denied based on their age or past medical history.
- It is cheaper than individual health plans
- Employees are not asked to go for any medical checkup and usually get covered from day one.
Exclusions:
- These covers own a sub-limits. Thus the employee is not fully covered.
- At times companies may not provide health cover to the employee parents.
- As all the employees are covered under the same umbrella, it lacks modification.
- The policy is valid only for a certain period during which an employee is working in a company.
- An employee and his family will not be covered in case of any employment gap.
- The policy becomes invalid if an employee withdraws the contract with the company.
Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.
–Simone de Beauvoir
