A group health insurance policy is an insurance cover that insures a group of people against any medical uncertainties. This plan is exclusively offered to companies, organizations, banks, and housing societies to secure their employees by providing medical services to them and their families when needed.
Group health insurance is a very useful tool for employers to increase the talent retention rate of their organization as group health cover is a good motivator for the workforce given that it offers really good benefits.
Benefits of Group Health Insurance:
All-Inclusive coverage: This policy provides cover for almost all medical expenses including the cost of specialists, ambulance, medicines, etc.
Covers most health problems: This policy offers protection against most health problems including accidental hospitalization.
Cover for insured’s dependents: The most attractive benefit of group health insurance is the cover that is also extended to the insured employees’ dependents.
Tax benefits: The government also incentivizes employers to offer group health insurance by giving them and their employees, tax rebates.
Risk-free work culture: This policy motivates employees to work with more motivation given that they get the security net in the form of medical cover. This creates a risk-free work culture as employees are not worried about sudden medical expenses or healthcare treatments.
Extended benefits: Group medical cover also provides medical cover for pre-existing health problems and maternity cover as well, making it an even more attractive feature of the insurance policy.
Now with all these benefits, it is natural to have a few doubts and questions. So here, the J Insurance group will answer the most common queries that are searched on the internet.
“Is group health insurance mandatory?”
Yes, after the Covid pandemic. The govt. of India made it mandatory for all employers to gave a group health insurance policy in place for the medical provisions of employees.
“Can group health policy be ported?”
No, the group health insurance can not be ported. Once you leave an organization the contract of group medical cover becomes null and void.
“Why is group health insurance cheaper than an individual?”
As employers have a good number of people available as a group, insurance companies provide cost-efficient plans to employers who benefit from the “economies of scale” effect making a group medical cover cheaper than an individual medical insurance policy when accounted on per employee basis.
“Does the benefit of group health insurance extend to family members?”
Yes, mostly the benefit of group health insurance is extended to dependents of the insured employees in almost all the group health insurance policies. However, The company can choose to extend the cover to employees and dependents such as spouses, Children, Parents.
“Are group health insurance premiums taxable”?
Yes. The premium paid on group health insurance is taxable. The premium paid by the employers under group medical cover is termed as a business expense for the company. This expense is shown in the employer’s profit and loss account and is eligible for tax benefits in accordance with the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961.
If the premium is paid by both the employer and employee, then the employer can gain tax benefit only for the amount contributed and not for the amount that is paid by the employee.
“Who qualifies for group health insurance?”
According to IRDAI, as an employer, you need to have at least 20 employees to be eligible to get group health insurance. However, some companies do it for 7-10 employees considering a minimum of 25 lives.
“Does group health insurance cover pre-existing conditions?”
Yes. A group health insurance policy does provide an option to protect against pre-existing medical conditions to the insured employee and his/her dependents.
“Can you cancel group health insurance at any time?”
If you have a group health insurance policy that you are not satisfied with then you get the option of cancelling your policy but you can not do that right away. You have to inform your insurance provider first and then serve a notice period which is usually 30-60 days in most cases.
Please note that your employees will be unable to take the benefits of the policy during the notice period.
“Am I entitled to get a refund If I want to cancel our group medical policy?”
We would say yes but there’s a catch. There are parameters based on the time frame of the policy that evaluate your eligibility for a refund. Most insurance policies provide a 100% refund if you cancel within 15 days of purchase.
If you cancel in between 91-365 days then your refund is adjusted for the days left in the policy term.
“Does group health insurance cover dental care?”
No, a group health insurance policy doesn’t cover dental care unless the need arises due to an accident.
But with JInsurance you can choose a partner and extend cover for dental and Outpatient Discharge (OPD) services.
So that’s all about the Group Health Insurance and its most common doubts and queries ANSWERED!
