When you start working in a big company, you get many employee benefits. Some of them include a pension fund and a health insurance cover. The health insurance cover is a very useful employment benefit. It keeps you and your family safe from health problems as you can make a claim and get treated if there is a requirement. However, at times, the employer-provided health cover proves to be insufficient and this is why you should look beyond this courage and get your health policy too. Take a look at this article to understand why you should not rely on your group health policy alone.
- Fixed cover:
The employer offers the same health cover to all the employees. It is a fixed cover that you cannot alter. If you have a group health policy of INR 5 lakhs, that’s what you have. Whether you need the amount, whether it is too large or too little, none of it will matter to your employer and they won’t change the coverage amount for any employee. This is a major disadvantage as you may have a different requirement from your medical insurance coverage.
- Not flexible:
Similarly, your group health policy cannot be customised in any way. It is crucial to have a flexible health policy. The health insurance needs of every family are different. This is why relying on generic, non-flexible health plans can be difficult and you may face many problems at the time of a claim.
- Can lose it overnight:
The group health cover is an employment benefit. Hence, you have it till the time you stay employed in the organisation. If you leave your job, get fired or retire, you stand to lose your health insurance coverage instantly. In the absence of a secondary insurance plan, your health will remain uninsured which can be extremely dangerous.
- Won’t cover special conditions:
As mentioned above, you cannot customise your employer-provided group health insurance policy in any way. So, if you need a specific cover like a cancer insurance cover or a diabetes cover, you will have to look beyond the group health insurance cover. For this, you will have to get your own policy and stay covered appropriately.
- Can’t add riders:
Riders are add-on covers that help you to make the plan tailor-made for you. This is why you should add some riders to your basic health plan. But this option is not available in the group plans. To get some riders, you need to buy your own health insurance policy.
There is no doubt that a group health plan is very useful. However, you should always have your own health insurance policy too to back up the group health cover. If you lose your job suddenly you will lose the health coverage and then, getting a plan immediately thereafter may be problematic. So stay prepared, get a plan that suits your needs and keep yourself and your loved ones safe.
