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We live in a world of uncertainty, perhaps best evidenced by the recent COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting changes in the way we work and our expectations of family, friends and work. It also made us deeply aware of the medical vulnerabilities within our own families, and made us more certain about how to pay for those medical bills.
Chris George, co-founder and CEO of QubeHealth, says getting health insurance for yourself and your family is one of the most important ways to reduce risk. “Buying it yourself or having the company you work for provide it as part of ’employee health insurance’ is now as basic as having a savings account. The challenge, however, is that even after more than 30 years of health insurance being introduced in India, less than half of the population is insured, even when most of these are covered by government schemes. That’s it. If you don’t have health insurance, you’ll have to pay for your medical bills out of your savings or borrowings, known as out-of-pocket expenses or OoPE. Amazingly, according to the 2023 Economic Survey, OOPE accounts for 48% of total healthcare costs.
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employee health care
“Companies that value their employees have a strong interest in reducing uncertainty in the minds of their team members, especially when it comes to healthcare topics. We are increasing per capita health insurance coverage, creating an emergency corpus fund to provide emergency medical loans to our employees, and stepping up our activities related to employee health and wellbeing,” said Chris. I’m here.
Most company-sponsored employee health insurance programs, also known as Group Mediclaim (GMC) or Group Health Insurance (GHI), offer around Rs. coverage of Rs 300 per person). ). These GHI programs say they cover accidental deaths, obstetric and day care procedures, and hospital admissions for you and your family. “If you look closely at benefit documents and apply a forensic perspective to understand these benefits, you’ll find that in most cases there are limits on the amounts and procedures covered by insurance coverage, and many exclusions. You know,” warns Chris.
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what you can do
It’s not that employers don’t mind that insurance is a complex product. The insurance business also benefits from adding “friction” to the claims processing process. Chris lists a few things that should be added to the health benefits program.
medical credit line
A line of credit available to all employees to pay for medical expenses not covered by a company-sponsored health insurance program. Employees should be able to borrow easily with minimal effort from the employee or HR team. Add to this the convenience of a free EMI repayment plan that is debited directly from your employee’s payroll account.
Non-cashless return program
If the company-provided health insurance program does not cover the hospital or clinic where the employee wishes to receive treatment (non-cashless), the employee may You should have access to money to fill the gap. date. Again, the employee should be able to withdraw this money immediately, pay the healthcare provider, and file an insurance claim to repay this amount for free.
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healthcare savings account
A savings account that, in addition to a payroll account, gives employees the option to deposit a small amount of money each month from their salary for future planned medical expenses, such as childbirth or a parent’s cataracts. Deposits into this account earn interest, provide expense-specific insurance coverage, and offer discounts on proposed expenses.
Thoughtful employers can work with specialized companies that provide such solutions to enhance or augment existing employee health benefit programs. This is a good way to attract and retain talent by showing that they are a “company that cares”.
Also Read: 4 ways to keep your heart healthy
