Usually, most of the salaried-class people give health insurance provided by the employer utmost important. They value it as one of the most beneficial employee benefits a company provides to its employees. Moreover, while choosing an employer, numerous employees give maximum consideration to the employer-provided health insurance. Fortunately, even the employers accept that offering adequate health insurance to the employees helps them to better attract and retain their employees. But at the same time, it is not always important that every health insurance plan offered by the employer is adequate. As an employer, you must take an informed and helpful decision for your employees by offering them adequate health insurance. While choosing the health cover for your employees, there are numerous factors that must be kept in mind. Let’s discuss some prominent ones.

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Higher sum insured

While choosing a health insurance cover for your employees, remember to buy one that provides them with adequate coverage. You must keep in mind the rising rate of medical inflation and its effect on healthcare expenses. A regular cover of Rs 2-3 lakh is not at all sufficient to provide required cover for various illnesses related to lifestyle habits or emergency medical expenses. As per industry experts, the lowest cover that an employer must provide to its employees should be at least Rs 7-10 lakh, going all the way to Rs 20-25 lakh, depending upon the company’s budget and expenses. Also, do make sure that the health insurance cover offered by you to your employees also provides coverage to the immediate family members of the employee who include spouse, children and dependent parents.

No claim bonus

Under an employer-provided health insurance policy, employees usually do not have the option of claiming no claim bonus due to the policy restrictions. No-claim bonus is generally a reward for being healthy and is provided as a discount in the premium amount. However, as an employer, it is important that you look for a policy that allows the employees to take the benefit of no-claim bonus feature. Always look for policies that increase the insurance cover every claim-free year. This will encourage the employees to stay healthy and follow right lifestyle habits. Along with the NCB feature, there are some other features as well that must be considered by the employers including top-up cover with a deductible in order to enhance the existing insurance. This is important because the plans with such features are comparatively cheaper than the basic health plans.

No sub-limit

The sub-limit clause in employer-provided health insurance policy is a cap that the insurer puts on expenses against a specified medical procedure. The amount is generally a predetermined limit set by the insurer that is applicable on the total claim amount for some specific diseases or medical treatments. Most of the insurers usually place sub-limits on medical expenses like hospital room rent, doctors’ consultation fee, ambulance charges and various pre-planned medical procedures such as plastic surgery and cataract operation. While choosing a health cover for your employees, choose one with no sub-limits. This will allow employees to take medical treatment with complete peace of mind.

Amit Chhabra is Head- Health Insurance at Policybazaar.com.

First Published:Jul 18, 2019 6:00 AM IST