Group Mediclaim V/S Individual Health Insurance

Buying health insurance is one of the wisest decisions you can take for yourself and your family. The way we grow, the most important we learn is health is wealth, and the whole world agreed with this quote. Well, It takes some research to analyze which insurer is offering the best features and policy coverage; with the help of the internet, your research could be easy, and the result of a CSR report can also make things easy for you. Like as choosing one of the best insurance provider companies and defining their CSR report to know about the reality of claim settlement.

Well, it would be new for some people, and some of the people know it previously, and it’s easy to understand and need to note such kind service too. More often than not, we ignore examining the features of two broader categories, group health insurance, and individual health insurance. Both of these insurance types have their advantages and disadvantages. 

Group Health Insurance

Group health insurance is simply an insurance policy under which, anyone can secure the health of a group of people and this kind of service is mostly booked by organizations and companies. 

It is a health insurance plan that offers coverage to a set of people under one umbrella. This is often used by employees of the same company, self-employed professionals, members of a particular society, or the residents of a locality. This is more prevalent in the corporate world, as it allows employers to attract skilled professionals. It makes sure that skyrocketing costs of medical treatments do not affect the employees or their families. 

Advantages of Group Insurance

• Purchasing something in bulk usually costs less. This is the case with group health insurance, too. An individual has to pay a lower premium to avail of the benefits. Various organizations offer health insurance to their staff without asking for any compensation. Though, the employees have to pay additional fees to receive extra help.
• There is usually no medical check-up needed before registering for group health insurance. In most cases, an individual is also not required to submit information related to medical history. This means, your pre-existing medical conditions also become part of the insurance cover, which rarely happens in the case of individual insurance.
• Talking about the claims, you are eligible to get a claim within the first 30 days of signing for the insurance.
• A lot of insurance companies delegate a relationship manager to handle the confusions and queries of the insured individuals. These professionals also help the insured ones with the paperwork. In fact, various companies organize special presentations at their workplace regularly to help individuals get a better idea of how to use the insurance.
• These benefits show how an employer can delight its employees by offering the right health insurance plan. Even a group of individuals can contact a health insurance service provider to avail the benefits of group insurance. 

Disadvantages of Group Health insurance 

The group health insurance comes with some downsides.

• The primary disadvantage is that it cannot be customized as per the individual needs. The employee or a member of society has to rely on the plan that is chosen commonly for the group and lacks the freedom of putting his/her terms and conditions.
• Various plans cover only the insured individual, along with his/her spouse and children. The parents of the insured are often left out of the coverage in these types of plans.
• The individuals using group health insurance are not eligible for a no-claim bonus, which is offered by individual insurance policies for individuals who do not claim the insurance during the tenure of their policy.
• Another disadvantage with group health insurance is that the power of ending the health insurance plan lies in the hands of an employer. Also, in most cases, your policy gets terminated as soon as you leave a job.

Individual Health Insurance

Also known as stand-alone health insurance, individual health insurance is purchased by someone for himself/herself or his/her family. Usually, the mediclaim is purchased after going through the benefits and premiums of multiple health insurance companies. 

Advantages of Individual Health Insurance

• The very first benefit of this insurance category is that you can select the plan on the basis of your preferences. With the availability of health policy comparison that allows you to compare hospitalization cover, special features, premium, and other details of all leading health insurance companies, choosing a plan has become quite simple.
• To delight their customers, a lot of companies offer some additional benefits that are usually missing from the group insurance policies. For example, some companies take care of domiciliary medical treatment, which means treatment that takes place at home is also covered.
• As the individual health insurance is not dependent on the employer, there is no impact due to a change of job.
• The insurers also offer different types of bonuses for claim-free years, making it a good deal for those who are health conscious. You are also able to apply for loans, as the policy is in your name.

Disadvantages of Individual Health Insurance

• Just like group health insurance, individual policies also come with some drawbacks. An individual has to pay more premiums, which impacts the overall budget.
• The level of assistance in group insurance is generally not seen in the case of individual plans.
• The medical examination is compulsory for most of the plans.
• The pre-existing medical conditions usually alter the premium and cover received by an individual.

Benefits 

Conclusion

If your employer is offering a good insurance policy that covers your whole family, then you can stick with group insurance. But, if you are willing to pay more and want to have insurance as per your terms, then you must go for individual insurance. Don’t forget to check all leading health insurance plans using a mediclaim policy comparison portal.