How to Select the Right Group Medical Coverage?

A group health insurance or medical coverage is a health insurance policy type that covers a particular group of individuals, especially employees of an organisation.

This medical insurance plan also offers coverage to the family of insured employees, such as spouses, dependent parents and children.

This health insurance policy benefits employees by offering financial security during unforeseen medical emergencies. It also benefits employers by improving employee retention.

Some of the significant benefits of investing in group health insurance for organisations are:

Family Medical Coverage: A group mediclaim policy offers coverage to employees and their families against unforeseen medical emergencies. Depending on the policy's terms and conditions, insured employees can include their spouse, dependent parents and children in the plan.

Better Employee Retention: Another crucial benefit of investing in group medical insurance coverage is a better employee retention rate. When an employee feels happy and cared for in an organisation, it impacts their mental well-being and boosts their morale. A happy and motivated employee is less likely to leave their job, hence a better retention rate.

Pre-existing Disease Coverage: Another benefit offered by group medical coverage is pre-existing disease coverage. These health insurance plans are generalised, which gives organisations flexibility to opt coverage for pre-existing conditions from the date of issuance.

A group health insurance policy demonstrates the organisation's commitment towards the workforce. Therefore, employers need to choose the right group medical insurance coverage. Below are some pointers that could help in choosing the right plan for the organisation:**

Asses Organisational Requirement: One of the essential things to assess before selecting a group health insurance for any business is the organisation’s requirements. Every business has a unique set of requirements and needs.

Various factors need to be considered while assessing the business requirements such as employee demographic, size of workforce, specific health care needs, etc. By understanding all these factors, businesses can easily map down their requirements.

Research Different Insurance Providers: After knowing the requirements, it is crucial to research different insurance providers based on reputation, proven track record, and positive reviews.

Comparing different insurance providers and their plans based on this can help organisations pick the adequate group health insurance plan.

Determine Coverage Options: Since there are so many insurance providers available in the market, it is crucial to differentiate the plan based on the coverage offered.

Choose a group health insurance policy that offers extensive coverage such as pre- and post-hospitalisation, daycare procedures, in-patient treatments, and more during medical crises.

Evaluate Sum Insured: The sum insured is crucial when choosing group health insurance. It is the maximum amount policyholders can claim in policy tenure for a medical emergency.

The sum insured of the plan should be high, considering the medical treatment cost and inflation.

Evaluate Network Hospitals: Beside this, another prominent thing to look for while selecting a plan is network hospitals. It is best to choose a group medical insurance provider that has partnered with a multi-speciality and reputed hospital.

This will ensure that the employee will get top-notch medical care and a hassle-free claim settlement process in the hour of need.

Customisation Benefit: An organisation's size and needs may vary; hence, it is essential to look for a plan that offers customisation benefits.

With a custom-made plan, employers can offer health benefits that cater to the needs of their workforce.

Besides this, it is also crucial to check the add-ons or riders offered by the insurance providers. These are voluntary offerings that enhance health insurance coverage.

Analyse Waiting Period: Another vital factor to take into account while choosing a group medical insurance coverage for an organisation is the waiting period.

It is a time duration during which policyholders cannot avail themselves of any health benefits offered by the policy.

Every health insurance plan comes with a waiting period. It is crucial to make sure that the group health insurance plan does not have any waiting period for pre-existing diseases to raise a claim.

Analyse Claim Settlement Process: One significant challenge faced by health insurance policyholders is the poor claim settlement process.

Therefore, it is crucial to analyse the insurance provider's website, customer reviews, after-sales service, and social media handles to understand their reliability in claim settlement.

It is prudent to choose an insurance provider with a high claim settlement ratio.

Understand Premium Structure: It is also crucial to know about a group health insurance premium structure.

It is best to choose a plan that fits the organisation's budget and offers adequate coverage. In addition, ensure that an insurance provider offers benefits like discounts on the premium.

With the dynamic job market, employee benefits have become a deciding factor in choosing an organisation. Employees today look beyond salary, company culture, environment, etc.; they look for a group medical coverage benefit offered by the organisation. Hence, employers need to select the right group health insurance plan.

Tata AIG offers various SME insurance plans catered to different business needs. Our group health insurance plan offers extensive coverage to employees against accidents and medical illnesses.

How to compare group health insurance plans?

While choosing the right group mediclaim policy, it is best to do the comparison based on coverage, premium, add-ons, claim settlement ratio, network hospitals and more.

Can small or medium-sized businesses buy group health insurance?

Yes, a small or medium-sized business can also invest in a group health insurance plan. Tata AIG offers group health insurance for small businesses catered to their unique needs.