Is it advisable to purchase Group Health Insurance from my Bank or to purchase Retail policies?

Many banks have started offering customised group health covers for their customers, borrowers, depositors and loan account holders.  A few of them are offered on a complimentary basis where the premium is paid by the banks and not charging their customers. For instance banks do not charge premiums for health insurance offered to credit card or FD customers as the health insurance plan is attached to the underlying product.  In some of the plans, the banks charge the customers for the health insurance premiums. 
It is advisable for people to hold a separate insurance in addition to the plans offered by the banks. The reasons are many: 

• You need to understand the the terms of the policies offered by the banks. Group health insurance policies do not have any waiting periods, which might not be the case with bank-facilitated group covers. Certain group policies issued by the banks do not cover all diseases from the day the premium is paid by the customer. They have to wait for a few months to get the claim amount. 
• The group covers can be withdrawn by the insurance company or by the bank in the subsequent years. If the premiums are not attractive and the insurers have paid large number of claims, they will either hike the premiums significantly or withdraw the group plan. Of late due to the mergers of multiple banks, the group plans can get withdrawn from the bank’s end.
• The group plans also will cease to provide cover when a customer decides to close the account or any transactions with the bank. The customer will be deleted from the group plan offered by the bank if they no longer are customers of the bank. 

Health insurance through banks will be very helpful for senior citizens, as buying fresh policy beyond a certain age becomes difficult and costly. Insurers are reluctant to offer regular health covers to senior citizens given their advanced age and the likelihood of having developed pre-existing conditions.