Health has been a topic of debate and a focal point in most of our lives post the pandemic. It has brought into perspective the importance of wellness and how securing it physically, mentally, and financially is important. 🔁
From the point of view of the latter, there has been a surge in the demand for health insurance. There is an increase in the number of players who have propped up in the market and are offering a range of health insurance covers. 📜
If you are wondering which is the best health insurance policy to opt for from the many available out there, you will have your answer by the end of this article. So keep reading. ⬇️
🔢 Types Of Health Insurance Policies In India
As you know, there are several types of health insurance plans in India that are available for purchase. Before zeroing in on any, you must understand each one of them. We’re going to help you with that.
1. 🙋 Individual health insurance
An individual can purchase individual health insurance for themselves, their spouse, their children, or their parents. Each member under the plan has an individual sum insured and hence many consider it a lucrative option.
This type of insurance covers expenses for injury and illness, including hospitalization, surgery costs, room rent, and more. Of course, it varies based on the provider and the policy you pick.
2.👨💼Group health insurance
Group health insurance, as the name suggests, covers a designated group of members or employees working together. It has several advantages - one of them being low-cost premiums.
Much like an individual plan, group insurance includes hospitalization expenses, as well as offers coverage for pre-existing diseases, maternity expenses, and more. It also doubles as a benefit that is extended to the employees and helps companies enhance employee engagement.
GOOD TO KNOW: 7 Types Of Group Insurance Coverage Available In India
3.👴Senior-citizen health insurance
This type of insurance is designed keeping in mind individuals who are over the age of 60 years. It covers the cost of medicines, pre and post-hospitalization, treatment expenses, etc. In some cases, it also includes benefits like domiciliary hospitalization and psychiatric benefits.
As compared to individual or group health insurance, this is apt for senior citizens and it’s tailored to cater to their health and requirements. 🩺
4. 🤒 Critical illness health insurance
As the term suggests, critical illness health insurance covers lifestyle-related diseases. It’s primarily beneficial for those who do not have the financial leverage to afford treatment in case of illnesses such as cancer, heart attacks, strokes, kidney failures, and so on.
In the unfortunate case of diagnosis, the insurance allows for cashless treatment and comes with the option of lifetime renewability.
5. 👨👩👦👦 Family floater health insurance
For those looking for an affordable insurance plan that covers all family members - family floater health insurance is a good bet. Under this scheme, a single sum insured covers every member of the plan.
Its prime benefit is that it comes at a comparatively lower premium and can extend to self, spouse, children, and parents. However, in the case of parents above the age of 65 years, it is advisable to not include them in the family floater plan and to buy senior citizen health insurance for them instead.
As you can see, there’s a wide range of schemes that health insurance companies offer. If you’re confused about which is the best health insurance policy in India, read on further to learn more.
🌟 Which Is The Best Health Insurance Policy In India?
While every form of health insurance is advantageous, group health insurance is the best health insurance policy in India because it covers not only employees but also their families. It allows those covered to enjoy holistic health coverage at zero or nil rates instead of buying individual and family floater plans separately.
Further, it also bears several benefits over individual health insurance as well as family floater plans. In addition to the standard features such as cashless claims, health insurance offers the advantage of affordability. 💵
Group health insurance plans cover a large pool of members and the risk is spread across, making it available at a cost-effective price point. Plus, most often, employers pay for the premiums, with employees paying little to no price for coverage, thus making it more affordable as compared to individual plans.
Read To Know: Top 10 Employer-based Health Insurance Pros And Cons
It also covers pre-existing ailments which are otherwise not covered under other individual insurance schemes and also extends maternity and dental and vision benefits along with no waiting period. 🚫
In addition to this, group health coverage offers lucrative tax benefits to both the employer as well as the employee, in cases where both bear the cost of the premiums.
Individuals can claim a deduction under section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for health insurance premiums and expenses incurred towards the preventive health check-ups for self, spouse, dependent children, and parents.
Similarly, companies can also claim tax benefits as health insurance provided to the employees is a perquisite and thus eligible for deductions under the Income Tax Act. Let’s understand what a group health insurance policy covers below.
📜 What Does A Group Health Insurance Policy Cover?
A good health insurance policy usually offers wide coverage and includes the following.
1. 🏥In-patient hospitalization
In-patient hospitalization is when someone is admitted to a hospital for treatment. Group health plans include coverage of expenses towards treatment and/or surgery costs. 🧑⚕️
2. 🩺Pre-and post-hospitalization expenses
In addition to the actual hospitalization expenses, group plans also cover pre and post-hospitalization charges that are borne by the individual. These include costs before hospitalization like X-rays, medical tests, and so on, and costs after you’re discharged like health check-ups and medicines. 💊
3. 🥼 Daycare procedures
Sometimes, you don’t need to be hospitalized overnight. In such a scenario, when you need treatment at the hospital for just a few hours, there are several added costs you need to bear. Group plans cover such costs towards room rent, meals, and more. 🍲
4. 🚑 Ambulance costs
During a medical emergency, a patient may be required to go to and from the hospital in an ambulance. The expenses towards this are also covered by a group health insurance plan.
5. 🤒 Pre-existing ailments coverage
Unlike individual health insurance, group health insurance plans offer coverage for pre-existing ailments as well. The scheme doesn’t require prior health screening to meet any criteria either. 👩⚕️
6.🤰Maternity benefits
Some group health insurance plans, such as the ones we offer at Loop, offer maternity coverage along with coverage for newborn baby expenses for up to 90 days. This allows employees to get maximum benefits at zero to no costs. 👶
7. 🧪 No requirement for medical screening
As mentioned above, group health insurance doesn’t require prior medical check-ups. Each member or employee is covered under the plan irrespective of his or her age or health status.
8. 👨👩👧👦 Option to include family members
Along with enjoying holistic health coverage, individuals can also include family members in the group plan that they are part of. This is a better option as compared to managing a family floater plan that comes with several added terms and conditions.
9. 📜 Cashless claims
The biggest advantage of group health insurance is that it offers cashless claims. This means that the medical expenses incurred by the individual are directly settled between the insurance company and the network hospital without any hassles. Plus, with group plans, you have access to countless network hospitals with high-quality care.
Must Read: How Does Health Insurance Claim Process Work?
10. 🚫 No waiting period
While individual plans come with a waiting period, employees can claim via group health insurance from day one. They also save time and energy as they don’t have to undergo pre-medical tests, which are a mandate for individual plans.
✅ What Factors Should I Take Into Account Before Buying The GHI Plan?
Zeroing down on the right group health insurance plan isn’t easy. Especially now when there are so many insurance providers in the market offering a plethora of plans. To make things easier for you, before buying a group health plan, here are some factors that you must keep in mind. 🧠
1. ✔️ Know your requirements
Before buying any product or service, it is essential to understand why you are opting for it and if it adequately meets your requirements. Take into account your total employee count and the average age of your employees to get a hang of the premiums payable.
Better To Know: What Are Employer Group Health Insurance Requirements?
If your employees are unmarried and require traveling a lot, it is prudent for you to include a personal accident cover in the plan as well. Further, if your employees consist of senior citizens, you may need also need a critical illness cover.
2. 💷 Amount insured
The total sum insured is an important criterion of a group health plan. It’s recommended to opt for plans that offer a higher sum insured. To this effect, an employer must consider a minimum cover of Rs. 5 lakh, which will enable the employees to tackle medical contingencies adequately if they arise.
3. 🏥 Network hospitals
Check the network of hospitals that the insurance provider works with. Without the right hospitals within the network may come in the way when you need to seek emergency medical help. Hence, this is one of the most critical factors that to look for before purchasing a group health insurance plan.
Explore More: Network And Non-network Hospital
4. 💳 Premiums payable
Group health insurance has many positives however, it comes at a cost for the employer. That’s why it is important to pick insurance providers who offer comprehensive and customizable plans at affordable rates.
🟢 Speak to one of the Loop experts to supercharge your team ⚡ with cost-effective coverage.
5. 💪 Added benefits
You have the advantage of hospitalization costs, ambulance charges, room rents, etc. as a part of most group health insurance plans.
Similarly, it’s important to look for insurance companies that offer added benefits as part of the scheme such as - complimentary health check-ups, mental health support, and so on. This will enable employers to extend the best benefits to their team without incurring an added expense.
Now that you know the various factors to consider before buying a group plan, let’s go through the advantages you can enjoy when you purchase a good corporate health insurance policy.
👍 Benefits Of Purchasing A Corporate Health Insurance Policy
It is a well-accepted fact that health is of utmost importance in today’s day and age. However, the benefits of a group health insurance policy are not just limited to medical security. There are several other advantages of a group plan for both employers and employees.
Benefits for employees:
1. 🙅♀️ Zero or nil cost
Group health insurance is available to employees at zero or nil costs. With it, they can do away with the heavy costs of individual health insurance and still receive financial security in case of medical emergencies.
2. 💷 Tax benefit
In the event employees pay part of the premium on the group insurance scheme; they can claim a deduction for it under the provisions of the Income Tax Act.
3. 💟 Coverage for pre-existing ailments
Individual health insurance and family floater schemes promises several benefits, such as no-claim bonuses for claim-free years. However, they don’t cover pre-existing ailments, an advantage that employees can avail as part of group health plans.
4. 📞 Hassle-free claims
As opposed to individual policies, group plans allow employees to enjoy hassle-free claims without going through the rigorous process of producing documents, bills, etc.
🟢 At Loop, we have a 24X7 claims desk to answer all your queries and ensure you have a seamless claims process at no cost.
5. 🚫 No waiting period
While individual plans come with a waiting period, employees can claim via group health insurance from day one. They also save the time and energy as they don’t have to undergo pre-medical tests, which are a mandate for individual plans.
Benefits for employers:
1. ⬆️ Higher employee engagement
When employers provide group health coverage to employees, they show that they truly care and are indeed invested in their team’s well-being. This enables employees to place more trust in the organization and eventually perform better.
Employee Engagement Handbook
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2. 📉 Reduced tax amount
Since group health insurance is a benefit that companies provide to employees, it counts as a perquisite or business expense and hence you can claim deductions under the Income Tax Act of 1961.
3. 🏢 Enhance company image
By providing employees with a comprehensive group insurance policy you build goodwill and trust. This helps spread the good word about your brand and thus improves market reputation.
4. 👇 Lower retention and hiring costs
When you give your employee's group health insurance and added health benefits, you can retain them as well as help attract talent. Overall, it enables employers to reduce the cost and efforts that they spend in the retention and hiring process.
Retaining Your Best Employees
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5. 💰 Value for money
Companies can get great value for money by customizing group health insurance plans and picking and choosing what they wish to pay for. You can do this by choosing the right insurance provider like Loop. ➰
💥 How To Buy The Best Group Health Insurance Policy?
The answer is fairly simple - choose the best health insurance policy with Loop!
We provide employers with all the above-stated benefits of GHI plans and much more. In addition to standard features, our plans cater to the modern-day employer with inclusions such as wellness sessions, round-the-clock mental health support, and unlimited doctor consultations with our in-house team of specialists. 🩺
Our motto is to make healthcare accessible to all. And with this in mind, we provide an array of comprehensive plans available to employers at affordable premiums. 💵
By keeping preventive care as a focal point of our offerings, we enable companies to save on costs and avert instances of medical emergencies. We also provide quick medical access to employees and help them become fitter and better versions of themselves. 💪
Our persistent efforts in the right direction have helped us earn an army of trusted clients today with some of the most noted names being STL, SKF, Medline, Weikfield, Rediff, NoBroker, and many more. As of today, Loop has successfully been associated with over 200+ companies and serves 130,000+ employees.
It’s time you join industry leaders on the journey to better healthcare for your team. Get in touch with us for the benefits your employees deserve! ❣️
