Five Reasons to Offer Group Health Insurance in Your Company

Easier to Provide Health Insurance Plan

Most companies/businesses think that purchasing a group health insurance policy is a difficult task and expensive. This is not true because when you purchase a plan for several people, you get it at a comparatively lesser premium. Moreover, you can compare different group health insurance plans online and select one as per your requirements.

Make Your Employees Happy

According to a survey by a leading portal, employees of various organizations by far consider health insurance as the most important benefit of their company. This is the reason businesses or employers must provide health insurance policies as a benefit to their employees and then add other advantages over time. The top three advantages that an employer can offer to its employees are:

• Health Insurance
• Vacations
• Pension Plans

Saves Money on Taxes

An employer can claim a deduction of tax for the premiums that it has paid for the group health insurance plan for its employees in India. However, an employee is only entitled to get the medical benefits and facilities, but he/she is not eligible to claim tax exemption under Income Tax Act for the premium that has been paid by the employer. In addition to this, it is not added to the taxable salary of an employee for the calculation of tax.

Enhanced Retention and Loyalty of Employee

A rise in the salary of an employee is one of the ways to retain employees and gain their loyalty. However, it is not always a feasible option especially when your business is small. In that case, offering a group health insurance plan can be an effective method for gaining the loyalty of your employees and retaining them.

It is seen that four out of five employees prefer incentives and benefits like health insurance plans by their employer to a pay rise. In addition to this, small and medium-size businesses can lose a considerable number of employees, if they have not provided perks or incentives like group health insurance plans. Therefore, as per the need for an hour, it is suggested to provide a group health insurance plan.

Satisfied and Happy Employees are More Productive

With a group health insurance plan, employees gain more access to medical facilities. Such employees work with peace of mind as they will get medical benefits in case of any health issues or illness. For small businesses, offering a health insurance policy to employees can lead to more satisfied and happier employees, which improves their productivity.

In addition to this, easy access to medical requirements can contribute to an early return to work for the employees. So, in the end, healthier employees can make the workforce more productive and can result in more success for the small business.

Challenges in Offering Group Health Insurance

The main idea behind a group health insurance policy is to provide health insurance to a large group of people with a minimum insurance premium, which minimizes the risk for insurers. Therefore, the majority of start-ups and small businesses are unable to provide group health insurance policies as they have a lesser number of employees.

However, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has mandated a minimum number of employees as seven for availing of the group health insurance plan. So, in a nutshell, we can say that:

• Due to the smaller number of employees, a group insurance plan becomes an expensive affair for the majority of small businesses.
• For a company with a small number of employees, a group health insurance provider does not offer customization in the structure of the policy. Benefits such as maternity cover, pre-existing disease cover, etc. are rarely offered to organizations with a lesser number of employees.

Group Health Insurance Benefits for Employees

The employees get the following benefits from a group health insurance policy:

• The policy provides insurance coverage to the insured from day one.
• It is a cheaper option than individual health insurance.
• The maternity benefit that is not offered in an individual health insurance plan is offered in a group health insurance policy for employees or their wives.

The Final Words!

Being an employer, you want your employees to focus on their work so that they can be the most productive. Worrying about health issues and the day-to-day increasing medical treatment cost can drain the time and energy of your employees. Moreover, purchasing individual health insurance and a family floater plan can be difficult for many employees. So, if you offer a health insurance policy for your employees and their family members like spouses and dependent children, then it can be of great help. You can gain the loyalty of your valued employees, and the retention rate may improve as you offer one of the best benefits. In addition to this, if an employee is free from the burden of medical expenses, he/she can focus more and give the best results.