Most of us don’t take health insurance because our employer covers us under group insurance policies resulting in gratuity. In fact, most of us are also unaware of the extent of the coverage provided by the group health insurance provided by our employers. What happens if we have to pay out of our own pockets in order to cover our medical bills entirely?
Advantages and disadvantages of employer’s health insurance
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let us understand the ups and downs of relying entirely on the health insurance provided by our employers.
- We receive the insurance provided by our employers at much lower premiums than individual health insurance policies. Not just that, the health insurance coverage provided by our employers is available to us without any restrictions.
- Added to that, group health insurance policies do not have strict restrictions on persons with past medical histories. Even age is not a barrier to get a group health insurance plan under our employers.
That said, the cons of depending on our employer’s health insurance policy alone outplay the pros.
- Our health insurance, under our employer’s master policy, is only valid as long as we are still under their employment.
- We are not covered under any policy in the instance that we are between jobs. Our family is open to risk as long as we are not employed with an organization.
- Furthermore, if the organization fails to make premium payments, the health insurance policy can be voided.
- Since the health insurance provided by employers comes under group insurance plans, they tend to offer limited coverage. These policies are designed to cover all of the employees employed with the organization, hence may heed to sub-limits under various heads.
When our employer’s health insurance plan is not enough
What happens when we are faced with certain unfavorable conditions, wherein, the health insurance plans availed under group health schemes may not provide adequate coverage?
What’s more is that a new breed of companies that are springing up are withdrawing from caring for elder parents of their employees. Where does this leave our parents when we are away working towards our futures?
Important riders under the categories of pre and post illness costs such as doctor’s fees, nursing care, ambulance charges, daily cash allowances, diagnostic tests, etc. may not be provided under the health insurance policies provided by most employers. These expenses amount to a large sum during a medical emergency.
Premiums on post-retirement health insurance policies are usually very high. A person needs health insurance most pressingly in the waning post retirement years. Employers offer health insurance for the younger years of our lives when most of us are at our health’s peak.
What could be an all-round solution?
To supplement our employer’s health insurance policies, we must opt for an individual or floater health insurance policy. Individual health insurance policies can be customized to suit the variant needs of different individuals of a single organization. They provide us with riders that fit our specific preferences. We could look into the various available options of top-ups, fixed benefit policies or even indemnity-based regular health insurance policies.
Example to explain:
Under the HDFC Ergo Health Suraksha policy, company assures us of no sub limits on the doctor’s fees, diseases, hospitals charges such as room rents, etc. Health Suraksha policy also provides coverage like in-patient treatments, hospitalization costs, pre and post hospitalization costs, check-ups and treatments.
All of this is provided to us at reasonable prices. HDFC Ergo Health Insurance attempts to administer comprehensive health insurance plans that fits every single one of our budgets.
