The Indian economy is booming with new-age startups and small and medium enterprises. These organisations utilise the best of technology, materials and other resources available. However, finding and retaining the best human talent is still very difficult. In the endeavour to retain the best talents, lucrative perks are being offered by startups and other small organisations. One of the perks is health insurance for the employees. The biggest benefit of getting health insurance for employees is that they feel secure. They realise that their medical expenses will be taken care of. No matter how small or large the workforce is in a company, it has become imperative to buy a group medical insurance plan for them. Buying a good health insurance policy for employees in SMEs and startups has many benefits. It motivates the employees, reduces the cost of medical treatment for the organisation, reduces employee turnover, etc. But from an organisation point of view, buying group health insurance is not an easy task, especially when there are myriad health insurance plans offered by different companies.
Here are some important tips for startups and SMEs to be considered while buying group medical cover insurance plans:
- Comparing plans of different insurance companies
As mentioned earlier, there is a huge competition when it comes to health insurance companies. Before selecting a plan, a thorough analysis of similar policies offered by companies should be done. The analysis should include the features of the plan, services offered, illness covered and the price of the policies. It should also include a detailed study of the terms and conditions and the fine print of the policies. Once the comparative study is done, the organization should choose a plan that is affordable and suits their requirements.
- Ensure the policies are bought with adequate coverage
One of the biggest mistakes new-age startups or SMEs commit is buying the group health insurance policy with inadequate cover. This not only demotivates the employees but also increases the medical treatment costs for the company as the expenses over and above the coverage are borne by the company in most cases. So it is in both employers’ and employees’ interests that the policies are bought with sufficient coverage. This will ensure optimum usage of the coverage by the employees.
- Understand the terms and conditions of the policy
There are many instances where employees do not get the claim while availing of the cover. The problem lies in not understanding the detailed terms and conditions of the policy and not passing the information to the employees. Startups and other organisations should make it a point to understand all the terms of the policy they are buying and pass on the information to their employees. This will facilitate an easy claim process and avoid any sort of confusion.
- Consider insurance company with a wide range of network hospitals
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the work from home model has become the norm. This means that the employees of an organisation may be residing in different parts of the country. To cater to their requirements and ensure smooth insurance claims, it is vital to choose an insurance company with a wider network of hospitals. Therefore, the organisations should ask for the list of network hospitals from the insurance company. Ideally, a company that has a huge network of hospitals should be selected as it may be beneficial for the maximum number of employees.
- Understand what is excluded from the policy
Another big reason why claims are not accepted by the insurance company is that certain expenses are excluded from the policy. Small or medium enterprises should ask for the list of exclusions, understand them and make their employees aware of them too. This will save time and confusion on the employees’ part.
- Check sub-limits of different expenditures
There are instances where the actual insurance claim received is less than claimed. The reason for this is the sub-limits set by the insurance companies for different categories of expenditures. For example, some companies have an upper cap limit for expenditure on hospital room rent. So the rent amount over and above the cap limit will not be borne by the insurance company. The parties buying group health insurance policies should check the sub-limits and convey the same to their employees. Startups and SMEs also have an option of buying health insurance with no sub-limits. However, these policies may have a higher premium.
Conclusion
Small enterprises and startups should be careful while selecting a health insurance plan. They should study the policies in detail and compare them with other policies to get the best deal. They should know that group health insurance plans are an investment and beneficial for both the organisation as well as the employees. Click here to visit all details about group health insurance.
