How good is to rely on a Group Health Plan?

Many people keep on delaying the purchase of a health insurance plan, considering their group health insurance policy enough to cover their health care requirements. But, we forget to determine some significant aspects such as inflation, increasing medical costs, changing lifestyle, and so on, while omitting the individual health insurance plan from our consideration. Also, you should not forget that the probability of your being ill could rise as you grow old. Therefore, the question arises as if it is fine to depend on the group health insurance scheme.  

Although, a group health insurance of the employer may seem to be a decent choice, yet it's not widely suggested when compared with individual insurance plans. The employer insurance scheme is undoubtedly advantageous as it requires no compulsory medical examination at the time of registration. With this, regardless of whether an individual has a critical condition, he or she can be secured under the group protection plan, but still one cannot ignore the benefits of the individual plan due to some drawbacks in the former than the latter. 

Reasons to Choose an Individual Plan Over a Group Insurance Policy

Here are the reasons to choose individual medical insurance and group medical insurance plans are listed below:

1. A limited amount of coverage is available for dependents

Under specific conditions, the employer also offers the option to add dependents such as parents, spouses, and children. However, there always exists a limit to the cost of coverage that depends on factors like the position of the employee, the profits of the organization, and so on. But, under the individual insurance policy, one can extend the cover to any cost limit as per the requirement.   

2. The portability feature is absent

It is recommended by many to opt for a group health cover as a good option due to its affordability trait. But, one should not forget that it comes with some provisions, which can make you think beyond the monetary term. In the majority of cases, the group protection cover does not comprise the feature of portability, which means while leaving your company you would not be permitted to keep the health cover along. Due to this, your troubles can increase if your new organization has no such system of mediclaim. Also, even if the new organization holds the health cover, still, you can go uncovered while being jobless for a certain period with the absence of the portability factor.   

3. The policy is arranged according to the employer

With the mediclaim plan under one's organization, the individual is required to abide by the rules and guidelines of the organization that decides for the scheme. There you can't choose the plan according to your choice and benefit. Additionally, a situation may occur where the insurer increases the premium rate, or the plan is dropped suddenly as per the choice of your company. In that scenario, you can go uncovered abruptly with no other option left. 

4. It is not the least expensive plan available in the market

Even if it seems that you have got the maximum benefits you were looking for in a group insurance health coverage, the reality of the situation may be different. How would you feel to find that the market has cheaper plans than yours? Most of the health insurance policies offered by employers or companies look quite economical and amazing at the start, but as the person starts aging, the plan begins to get outstandingly expensive. It might sound unnerving as if you apply for an individual health insurance policy at a later age, you might be solicited to undergo a series of medical tests to achieve conditional coverage. 

5. No health cover facility after retirement

Even if a person's organization has a sound superannuation plan set up, still, it is for sure that it would not be offering cover to their workers post-retirement from the association's end. In such circumstances, the person won't have a fallback protection cover. Additionally, putting an investment into a health coverage plan at such a later phase of life will make the premium exceedingly expensive. Thus, owning an individual insurance policy, even while having group health insurance. 

However, there exist several reasons for not entirely depending on the employer's health plan. The simple solution to this is to have an individual insurance policy as a backup for the time of emergency. Every individual should be prepared for the worst stages in life, such as life-threatening diseases that lead to unbearable medical expenses. Therefore, getting registered in the EB program as a momentary alternative and holding an individual policy as a long-term plan is the best way out. 

Under this strategy, every individual is recommended to be covered under three sorts of schemes that incorporate a health insurance plan, individual accidental policy as an independent cover or as a rider with term life cover, and critical disease cover. 

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Conclusion 

A prudent investment proposal is to contribute as much as 80% in individual health insurance coverage separately, apart from the group cover. This can assist in dealing with every sort of stress about health expenses and crises that evolve due to it. The hefty medical bills can affect your child's education fee, domestic expenses, loans EMIs, etc. Therefore, after having a profound assessment under the direction of a specialist, it is widely and highly recommended to go for individual insurance plans for everyone who feels that employer health coverage is enough for his or her family.