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Group Health Insurance

When Should I Buy A Group Health Insurance Plan In India?

When Should I Buy A Group Health Insurance Plan In India 2

Group health insurance brings a comprehensive health care scheme for the employees and their families. It is an insurance plan that the employer of the organization provides to the employees. Under the IRDAI guidelines, many certified insurance companies can offer such policies. The employer pays the premium for the employees for which they can avail of the insurance benefits. 

Is there any right time for buying? 

As an employer, what is the right time to buy the policies? The answer is anytime! If you can afford to bear the cost of the premium, then you should definitely buy the policy for your employees. But there are certain pre-defined regulations by IRDAI that determine if the organization or business is eligible for getting the policy approval. For example, if you are a solo entrepreneur and do not have any full-time employees in the registered business, you cannot buy a group insurance policy. Even if the organization has part-time employees, you cannot buy a policy, although sometimes insurers can put this to discussion on a case-to-case basis.  There are many other eligibility criteria that determine if you can buy the policy for the employees in your organization. 

Employee strength determines the time

Only the affordability factor does not allow you to buy the policy. In fact, the answer to the question of “when to buy” largely depends on your employee strength. The regulation of IRDAI mentions that for getting the policy, your organization should have an employee strength of at least seven. For example, for a small to mid-sized enterprise that wants to buy group health insurance through an insurance broker, the employee strength should range between 7 to 450. Thus, if your organization has more than seven full-time employees, then you can buy the policy

The pandemic making it the need of the hour

The pandemic outbreak in India and all over the world has brought a lot of distress.

Overall health insurance claims reported in India due to COVID-19 was Rs 22,955 crore. Insurance companies have settled claims of 12.33 lakh customers for about Rs 11,794 crore so far, according to figures compiled by the General Insurance Council. The claims of over 2.5 lakh customers involving Rs 11,161 crore are yet to be cleared, the figures show. This was based on data compiled by GI Council till July 2021. 

In such times, the Insurance regulatory and development authority has made it mandatory for all organizations to provide group health insurance policies to employees. Every employer who runs an organization or business with a strength of seven employees or more must provide health insurance coverage to employees. As an employer, if you have not bought the policy plans for your organization’s employees, it is high time to connect to an insurance seller. 

Group health insurance – Bringing mutual benefits

Buying a group health insurance policy benefits the employer and the employee. The need to bring the employees under the insurance coverage improves the employer-employee relationship. It brings transparency in the working space, and the employees stay loyal to the company. Thus, anytime time is perfect for buying the policy if you are eligible for the insurance approval. 

The right time for buying – Other than the eligibility rules, some profitable aspects also influence the time of buying the policies. The reasons are directly impactful to your overall business running and creating a healthy workforce. Following are some of the advantages of buying the policies that will answer the doubts in your mind about “when should I buy it?”. 

  1. While looking for tools to motivate employees and increase productivity: Group health insurance can be a great tool if your business is not performing the way you expect for the lack of employee productivity. How? When an employer looks after the well-being of the employees, then the motivation for serving the company automatically increases. It brings a sense of gratitude among the employees, and they work harder to express it. Thus, if your company lacks the much-needed productivity boost, it is the perfect time to buy. 
  2. While looking for ways to retain employees for long-term gain: Employee retention is among the key benefits of providing a group health insurance policy to the employees. With the policy, you look after the medical expense coverage for the employee and help their families as well. When an employee can enjoy the dual benefits of working in your organization, why would they leave the organization? Thus, if you see a rise in the number of resignations, it is time to buy and offer such a beneficial insurance plan to the employees. 
  3. While looking for tax exemptions: As a business owner or an organization head, you are always looking for legally-approved ways for getting tax exemptions. If you are out of ideas, then group health insurance can be an amazing solution. How? It brings a dual impact on the employee-employer relationship and, at the same time, provides tax exemptions. As an employer, your contribution to paying the premiums entitles you to deductions under the Indian Income Tax Law. So, if you are searching for ways to cut the cost, you should immediately buy the insurance plans. 
  4. While working on the employee rights and HR practices: HR regulations in a company largely impact employee performance and the overall image of the company. Offering the group health insurance plans to the employees enhances the performance and goodwill of the company. Buying the policy can be a wonderful way to grow the company’s reputation through effective HR policies. 

Finding the right insurance at the right time

If you have found the right insurance seller for buying a group insurance policy, why wait for more? Check the eligibility norms first to eliminate the worries of policy approval. So, if you have decided to buy the policy, do not delay the process further. 

PlanCover – Trust without a doubt.

It is best to connect to a reliable insurance broker like PlanCover while buying a group health policy. If you have any doubts related to the policy benefits or the eligibility factors, their assisting team will help you dedicatedly. All you require is to get in touch with their team, and they will manage the rest. You can pick the policy you want depending on policy coverage benefits by browsing through the available options. 

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