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Each one of us has a different approach to saving money and planning for financial stability in life. However, when it is about the high costs of medical care that we have to deal with, getting a health insurance cover is the best option. It provides the right cushion, which becomes crucial if we consider the fact that health risks and ailments are rising. Among us are many salaried individuals who are already covered under a group mediclaim or Corporate Health Insurance policy provided by the employer. It is one of the employee benefits, which gives us a sense of financial security when we face a medical emergency.
What is Corporate Health Insurance?
A corporate health insurance plan is an insurance cover that an employer offers to the employees. Such plans are designed to meet the medical needs of different employees by covering their medical expenses up to the specified sum insured.
How Do Corporate Health Insurance Plans Work?
Corporate or group health insurance plans usually cover the employees and their family members, including spouse and dependent children. In some corporate health policies, there is an option to include dependent parents at a higher premium. The employer deducts the amount of premium from the salary (CTC) of the employee.
Some of the benefits of employee health insurance plans include:
- Hospitalisation Cover: These policies mainly include hospitalisation benefits, wherein the cost of medical treatment at a hospital incurred by the policyholder will be covered up to the sum insured. They do not include day treatment. The facility of making cashless claims is available.
- No Waiting Period: Usually, there is a waiting period in health policies during which the insured cannot get a claim for the specified medical expenses. However, in a group mediclaim policy, the policyholder is eligible to avail of the cover for medical expenses from the time of policy inception.
- No Pre-policy Medical Check-up: Under corporate health plans, the employee does not need to undergo a health check-up before the policy is issued.
These plans are usually affordable, as the premium costs are not too high. Moreover, they include cover for maternity expenses as well as pre-existing illnesses, and there are no specific conditions such as the waiting period. Even employers gain by offering corporate health insurance plans to their employees if we look at it from the perspective of retaining employees and ensuring their welfare, as well as tax benefits.
>> Also read 5 reasons to opt for individual health insurance along with corporate
The Need for Individual Health Insurance Policy
A significant thing to note about employee health insurance plans is that they cover a group of employees of a company, and hence the features are standard. That is, the sum insured will be fixed. It could be a challenge in case it proves to be insufficient for an individual. It is particularly true for someone who has to meet high medical expenditures. Further, an employee health plan would be valid only till the time the individual is employed in that particular company. The policy is no longer valid after he or she leaves the company. So, until the individual is enrolled in a group health insurance plan in another organisation, he or she has to wait, and this could be a problem.
Considering these points, it is always a good idea to invest in a personal health insurance policy, which will also give a person the freedom to customise it as per individual requirements. That may include choosing the sum insured and other benefits. Nowadays, young adults are also becoming susceptible to diseases like diabetes and hypertension due to lifestyle factors, while the elderly population continues to face several age-related issues. Besides all these, the ever-rising healthcare costs also point towards the importance of buying a separate health cover. More importantly, it would provide many other benefits apart from covering hospital bills, such as pre-and-post hospitalisation and annual health check-ups.
Disclaimer: Plan features, benefits, coverage, and underwriting of claims are subject to policy terms and conditions. Please refer to the brochure, sales prospectus, and policy documents carefully.
