Top Health Insurance Tips for Small-Business Owners

If you want to secure your health against the expenses of healthcare and medical treatment, you definitely need the best health insurance plan. The importance of a health insurance policy is something that we all know and understand. Time and again deteriorating health of people make a big hole in their pocket if they do not avail the facility of health insurance.

A health plan allows the policyholder and his/her family to avail medical attention without any interruption. Without a health policy, you may either have to compromise on the treatment for your health issues or might have to spend lump sum money from your pocket. You are also likely to fall prey to debts and loans in many cases.

Thus, it is important for businesses to secure their employees with a group plan of health insurance with benefits offered to employees and their family members. This is because with health security, employees can focus better on the work front.

Further, most health insurance plans cover exclusions like maternity plans or pre-existing diseases. With such extensive coverage, businesses can gain employee’s trust and it enhances their credibility in the market.

So, regardless of the size of your company workforce, it is beneficial to offer health insurance coverage to the employees. Let us discuss, in this post, the small business health insurance buying tips.

Why is it necessary for the Small Business Owners to Avail Health Insurance?

With the growing economy, India has seen a rise in the number of new and small businesses and start-ups of late. Further, the support of various government programs and easy loans have made it easy for setting up small businesses.

However, if you want to sustain in the market for long, you need the support of special perks like group health plans and other lucrative schemes to be able to compete better. This way, you can attract potential employees and retain them too. Perks like these make your company a better place to work and appeal to your employees. In fact, health insurance policies serve as profitable perks offered by small businesses to lure people. They allow employees to have a sense of security in their job.  Hence, availing health insurance by small businesses is important for them to have dedicated staff.

A group health plan can be purchased directly through the portal of the insurance company or through insurance brokers. It can also be purchased via agents, consultants, agencies etc.

Let’s take a look at some of the health insurance tips that Small Business should consider.

Health insurance tips to be used by small business owners

So, here are some tips which can be considered by startup companies while availing health insurance. If you are the owner of one such small business, do consider these tips below:

Make comparisons of policies

Whenever you plan to choose a group coverage of health insurance for your employees, make sure to do a thorough comparison of plans which are available in the market. The comparison can be done easily if you prefer to buy your group health plan online. In that case, you can look for features of various health plans along with price and other services offered by the various insurance companies.

Try to have sufficient coverage

While considering group health insurance for your employees, try to include sufficient coverage. The coverage should be enough to suffice your employees and their immediate families. You may consider a policy of INR 5 lakh with minimum benefit.

Have a look at the list of network hospitals

For group health insurance plans, you definitely need an insurer who offers a wider network of hospitals. This is because not all employees would reside in one area of the city. In fact, they would be scattered across the length and breadth of the city. So, having a wider network of hospitals would suit their requirement. To check the list of hospitals offered by your preferred insurer, go to the website of the insurer and check online.

Know the policy terms well

Every Insurer has different terms and conditions that are stated in the policy document of the company. It is important to read such policies thoroughly so that your employees don’t face difficulty in raising claims.

Read the exclusions

Exclusions are the exceptions for which health insurance companies do not offer compensation. So, policyholders cannot raise a claim for such exclusions.  Hence, knowing these exclusions are important. And it is also important to make employees know about it.

Some other tips:

• Small businesses should determine how much they can afford to spend on health insurance
• Should review details of health plans thoroughly before making a purchase
• Seek answers for questions like what amount of co-pay is levied on the plan? Does the plan cover ambulance charges? Does the policy cover dental and eye treatment?
• Also consider, how much out-of-pocket expenses are there under the plan etc.