What is group health insurance?
A group health insurance policy provides comprehensive health insurance coverage to a group or a number of employees working in the same organization or company. Group Health Insurance, often offered as employee benefits - covers these groups of individuals from any medical or hospitalization emergencies.
Why is a group health insurance policy for employees necessary?
The challenge
Building a great team is only half the battle, retaining them is an ongoing challenge. Employees seek compensation, paid time off, and health benefits from their organisation. Sadly, only one-third of the Indian working class has active health coverage. This leaves many employees vulnerable during medical emergencies. Hospital bills, especially in the tier-1 and tier-2 cities continue to rise making individual health insurance expensive and often inadequate.
The consequence of not meeting the employee's needs will be, them taking up opportunities that provide them with competitive benefits.
The solution
Providing a group health insurance policy for employees is a direct reciprocation of how much you respect your employees’ health and well-being. The truth is many employees are directly dependent on the company-sponsored corporate health insurance plan. Individual health insurance can be expensive, but a group medical insurance plan covers dependents like spouses, children, parents or parents-in-law with no waiting period. Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Indian government issued a mandatory order to provide group health insurance to employees in India.It is clear that to retain employees you need policies and benefits packages that prioritize employee well-being over anything else.
How does a group health insurance policy work in India?
Now that you have known what is group health insurance for employees, let us know how a group health insurance policy work in India.
Group health insurance covers a group or a number of people under the same master policy. This can also be known as a blanket cover. This type of policy covers all the members included in the policy uniformly irrespective of their age, gender, and occupation.
The members of the policy, typically the employees can also extend the employee insurance coverage to the members of the family. However, this depends upon the terms and conditions of the master policy and the coverage it offers.
Mostly the employers pay the premiums towards the group health insurance policy. For this, the employers are granted tax exemptions under the Income Tax Act of India. The premium paid for a group health insurance policy is much lesser than a retail health insurance policy. This is because the risk involved is spread across the members of the group.
The employees are covered under the group health insurance policy as long as he/she remains part of the organization. In case the employee leaves the organization then the group coverage provided to that employee ceases to exist.
Best group health insurance plans in India
Here are some of the best group health insurance plans in India based on the Incurred Claims Ratio (as per the latest IRDAI report) and the number of cashless network hospitals. Any Group health insurance company with an incurred claim ratio between 50-100% is considered good.
Explore employee health insurance policy in major cities in India
Have questions about group health insurance? We can offer you one-on-one consultations and help customize your group health insurance policy. Feel free to drop by our offices located in major Indian cities for a direct meeting with us!
Bangalore
HSR Layout, Bengaluru - 560102
Delhi NCR
Sector 54, Gurugram, Delhi NCR - 122022
Mumbai
Andheri East, Mumbai - 400093
Pune
1st Church Rd, Camp, Pune - 411011
Other cities
Who should buy group health insurance?
Early Stage Startups
You just started a company and it's growing rapidly. Teams as small as seven can opt for employee health insurance. With Pazcare, you can customize a startup group health insurance plan that fits your team's size and budget. If you planning to put together a killer team, then subscribing to a group insurance plan early on should give you a jump start.
SMBs and Early Scaling Companies
With more employees working for you, have you ever wanted to put your group medical insurance administration on autopilot? Monthly addition/deletion of employees and communicating that to your insurance partner is painful, to say the least. Delegate your insurance ops to Pazcare while you focus on more impactful People projects.
Large Organisations
You are an established startup or a large organisation with 1000+ employees. Do you wish to offer comprehensive corporate health insurance with other benefits? Pazcare understands creating a one-size-fits-all plan is ineffective. Benchmark your current group mediclaim insurance policy data with peers and find a way to give more benefits at less. Our experts sit with you to analyze existing policies and take you through a personalized insurance renewal journey.
Advantages of group health insurance policies
Employer-Employee benefits have become fairly straightforward, but it is important for HR teams to understand the second-order effects that kick in after buying a group health policy. Now let us see how can group health insurance policies benefit employers and employees.
Attract & Retain Top Talent
Every company wants only the creamiest of employee talent - a comprehensive benefits plan will help you get the right eyeballs. Retention also is taken care - because today’s generation indexes a lot towards perks apart from their compensation.
Empathetic Workplace Culture
Employees perceive company culture by the type of benefits that are provided to them. Offering group health insurance shows that you care, and you can expect a similar amount of reciprocation to come from your employees.
Tax Incentives
If you are an employer and are paying for your team’s group health premium - you are eligible to avail tax credit. Imagine getting compensated for a goodwill expense.
Easy Claims Process
With Pazcare you never become liable for your employees’ claims. Be it cashless or reimbursement ‘Paz Claims team’ will ensure a smooth hospitalization experience.
Cover Family For Free
Employees can cover their dependents at literally zero cost. By this, you are not only helping your team save on some necessary expenses but also showcasing empathy and gratitude.
Focus on Holistic Wellbeing
Unlike traditional players - Pazcare is also responsible for your employees’ well-being. Every individual that is added to your group medical policy can access preventive healthcare offerings like health checkups, doctor consultations, and buying medicines at subsidized rates through the Pazcare App.
Benefits of group health insurance
Group health insurance policies have several advantages over an individual health insurance policy in terms of coverage, tax benefits and many more. Let us see them.
Group health insurance vs Individual health insurance
Features of a group health insurance
Waiting Periods waived off
Unlike your retail policy, many of your pre-existing conditions are waived off. Coverage for critical illness, maternity, cataract, and others start from day 1.
Pre & Post Hospitalisation
Not only hospital bills but expenses incurred pre-hospitalization and after discharge will be reimbursed.
Cashless Treatments
If you are pre-planning your hospitalization, find the nearest network hospital through the Paz app and enjoy a cashless experience.
Buy group health insurance online - Points to remember
While looking to buy group health insurance online for employees in India, you must be aware of certain points that can critically affect the experience and the premium paid towards the policy. They are -
Coverage offered
Group health insurance for employees has 3 types of coverage. Employee only, Employee spouse and children, and Employee Spouse Children Parents/In-laws. LGBTQ+ partners can also be covered in your group health insurance plan.
Sum Insured
Depending on the type of cover you offer for your employees, the sum insured amount can be decided. This can typically start from as low as 50k. If the family of the employees are covered, then it will be ideal to go for a higher sum insured.
Maternity cover
With a young and modern workforce it is always good to opt for a maternity cover. You can also offer capping on maternity cover for metro and non-metro cities, thereby reducing your premium paid.
Your experience of the group health insurance policy can be largely affected by the following.
Claim settlement ratio of the insurer
The claim settlement ratio or the CSR indicates the credibility of the insurer. As a rule of thumb, the higher the ratio, the more reputable the insurer.
Claims experience
When an employee raises a group health insurance claim, the claims team should be highly responsive and help the employees with queries. With Pazcare, you get a dedicated SPOC and 24X7 claims assistance.
Why should you buy group health insurance from Pazcare?
If you’ve come this far, then you are someone who is really looking to get the best group health insurance plan for your team. And you know the drill when it comes to negotiating and getting the best terms & conditions - more often than not it is painful and drains a lot of your energy.
At Pazcare, we are committed to making the entire process personalized and less of a hassle. You set expectations with your budget and we talk to insurers to get the best policy terms and coverage.
More reasons why Pazcare should be the best choice for your team
Curated Admin dashboard
Administration of multiple benefits and policies is now possible under one single dashboard. You get exact visibility on how employees use their benefits. Use frequent nudges to make your employees consume the benefits provided to them. And get monthly reports and analytics to present to C-suite.
Personalized Employee Experience
Employees can easily check what is covered and where are the nearest network hospitals. Either on Desktop or on App - one can raise cashless and reimbursement claims within a click without having to intimate their HRs and admins.
Hasslefree Claims Support
Say hi to Pazcare’s app - employees can now file and track the status of their claims on the go. Chat with our internal claims team 24X7 within the Paz app and get your queries answered then and there.
Calculate your group health insurance premium
Calculate PremiumThey love their employee benefits!
You can easily choose and build your benefits package. We have it all.
Prakash
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The Pazcare team was very helpful in helping us with the details and the documents needed for the claim process. Everything about the company is impressive.
Shreya Roy
The Dashboard is very easy to use and additions and deletion have become extremely easy and seamless. Employees have easy access to insurance details on the app
Hemanth Kumar Addada
The dashboard is also very user-friendly with a very good UI/UX.
Vishwanath HY
Dashboard really helps in getting quick response for any queries and reimbursement
Final thoughts
A comprehensive group medical insurance policy can be a great asset to keep your employees motivated and productive. It portrays how much you care about them and respect their healthcare needs.
With Pazcare, we promise a personalized buying experience while all your employees will be treated and taken care of like our own employees. Set up a consultation call with one of the benefits experts today to know more.
FAQs on group health insurance for employees in India
What is the minimum number of employees required for group health insurance?
According to IRDAI an organisation with 7 or more lives is qualified to buy group health insurance.
Is group health insurance mandatory for employees working in India?
As per the post lockdown Covid-19 guidelines by the Indian government, group medical insurance has become mandatory for employees.
What are the factors involved to calculate a group health insurance policy premium?
There are various factors that decide the premium of a group health insurance policy in India. They are the geographical location of the organization, the number of employees covered, the number of dependents covered (if any), the age of employees & dependents, add-ons opted on the policy, and previous claim history (if renewal).
How is an employee group health insurance policy different from an individual health insurance policy?
How to buy group health insurance online?
Get in touch with Pazcare. Submit the form. Our health insurance consultants will get in touch with you within 24 hours and understand your requirements, give a product demo and personalize your group health insurance policy. We get you best comprehensive quotes from 5+ insurers. Choose the best offering and your onboarding process starts within 24 hours of your policy purchase.
Who is eligible for group health insurance?
All startups, organisations of all types and sizes, or groups with a common interest in buying a group plan are eligible for group health insurance.
Who can buy group medical insurance for employees?
Group medical insurance for employees can be purchased by all startups, organisations of all types and sizes, or groups with a common interest in buying a group plan are eligible for group health insurance.
How to buy/renew my group health insurance with Pazcare?
Here are the steps to renew the Group health insurance policy for employees
- You can write to us at marketing@pazcare.com or visit our Pazcare and submit the work email and mobile number.
- Our health insurance consultants will contact you and help you with the renewal process.
Can I purchase group health insurance for a small business?
Yes, with Paz for Startups plan, you can buy group health insurance for small businesses for employees as low as 7. Our health insurance consultants will help you create the best tailor-made group health insurance plan for your employees.
What are the types of group health insurance policies? I am starting fresh.
There are 3 types of group health insurance policies.
- Employee only (E)- only the employee of the organisation is covered by the employer.
- Employee, Spouse & Children (ESC) - employee, his/her spouse and dependent children will be covered.
- Employee, Spouse, Children & Parents (ESCP) - employee, his/her spouse, dependent children and parents/in-laws are covered in this policy.
What are the important variables/cappings to decide before buying group health insurance?
Sum insured, Room rent offered, Maternity coverage offered, Waiting period offered, type of coverage offered, and Copay are some important variables/cappings to be considered before your group health insurance policy purchase.
What are the documents needed from the company’s side when buying group medical insurance?
In the case of group health insurance renewal, the documents required are Active employee data, Policy copy, and Claim dump details. Based on your previous coverage and claim details the group health insurance quote will be given to you.
In case of a fresh policy, active employee data will be sufficient.
Where and how can I keep a check on my employees' insurance data?
Our user-friendly Pazcare dashboard gives an overview of all your insurance data. You can also download these as reports as per your requirement to have more clarity on the insurance data. This includes claims data, CD balance, and no. of employees added and removed (endorsements).
Does Pazcare provide technical and claim support for group health insurance?
Pazcare offers 24/7 customer support. If you face any difficulty or need support, we have 24x7 human-assisted chat support on WhatsApp/email (support@getpaz.com) and on calls (+91-8037834753).
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