What’s the average cost of small group health insurance?

Health insurance premiums have risen over the last 24-36 months in India.  In previous years, insurers would price your health insurance based on healthcare inflation and historical trends as per their health insurance portfolio. But with the pandemic these trends have gone for a dramatic shift.  In India alone, over 25 Lac COVID-19 claims have been reported adding up to a total of INR 30,000 crore. This is almost 50% of the overall health insurance market in India.

Small businesses feel the pinch more than large businesses in terms of providing the best group health insurance plans for their employees. The average cost of the group health insurance plans for small businesses varies by :

• Location / City where the employees are based. Metro locations and top 10 cities have higher premiums as healthcare costs in these cities are higher than tier 2 and 3 cities/towns.
• Type of plan – Family floater plans are cheaper than individual plans.
• Coverage opted – Employer based health insurance policies cover for all illnesses, and sicknesses including any pre-existing health conditions ( diabetes, heart related etc) without any waiting period for any specific diseases/surgery. This will result in more number of claims in the policy and hence play an important role in the cost. Historical trend of the policy – If the policy has been purchased in the past by the employer and have claimed more than the premiums paid, insurers will apply a loading factor and this increases the cost of health insurance premium.

The average cost of group health insurance plans varies between INR 90/- to INR 200/- per employee/month. The cost increases if more benefits like maternity, and OPD benefits are purchased.

PlanCover is a great place to get your group health insurance plans structured. With deep expertise in healthcare and insurance, they have been providing services to over 1,300 companies by providing them affordable and cost effective group health insurance plans. You can reach out to them for your own plan.