Need Help / Information on group Medical Insurance.

Hi All,

I represent a Mid sized IT (Semiconductor) company. We are in the process of revising the Group medical insurance that we provide to our employees & their dependants.

I would like to understand what kind of coverage do other companies provide to their employees.

Would appreciate if people could give me details of the same. I also do have some specific questions that I have listed below:

Who do you define as your dependants?
Are parents also usually covered under this policy?
Is the coverage given to employees based on the grade at which one is?
If so does company limit the coverage to a certain amount of risk coverage or would it be on a Premium amount?
Do companies have a floater policy?
Does it make sense to have a floater policy?
What if in a floater policy the group coverage amount is utilized by other dependants & when it comes to the employee's illness there is nothing left... in such case what do you do?
Is there a min. for which an employee needs to be insured for?

Looking forward to your inputs.
Thanks
Roopa Reddy
Manager - Human Resources
RMi Technologies India Pvt. ltd.

Roopa,

My answers in line:
Who do you define as your dependants?
Immediate and first family which includes, employee, spouse, 2 kids and employee's parents. Few companies also cover parents-in-laws and siblings upto the age limit of 21 yrs.
Are parents also usually covered under this policy?
Employees' parents are covered. Again, it depends on the orgsn.
Is the coverage given to employees based on the grade at which one is?
Can be made flexible. Managers and above & Engrs and above. But it is'nt necessary. This can be worked out with the Insurance comp.
If so does company limit the coverage to a certain amount of risk coverage or would it be on a Premium amount?
It would be on the risk coverage, and not premium paid.
Do companies have a floater policy?
Yes, companies do have floater policy. It would be beneficial if you have a headcount of more than 200 or so, coz insurance comps normally don't extend floaters for a lesser headcount.
Does it make sense to have a floater policy?
It does make sense, coz from the employee's point of view, he can utilize the entire amount, rather than crunch at his dependant's treatment. It would be slightly a higher overhead for the comp, coz the premium paid willb e more for floater policy.
What if in a floater policy the group coverage amount is utilized by other dependants & when it comes to the employee's illness there is nothing left... in such case what do you do?
That is a risk which the employee needs to take. Coz the deciding power is left with the employee. The company cannot pool in for the employee's illness.
However, there is another scheme calle dCorporate Buffer, where the comp takes an additional coverage e.g Rs. 10 lakhs or so and extends the coverage to employees on a case to case basis. This would work best with a fixed coverage, where the comp's over head is also not very high( low premiums for fixed policy) and the employee also can request for an extended coverage (@ the discretion of the management).
Is there a min. for which an employee needs to be insured for?
The minimum amount covered for is Rs. 50000/- pa

Let me know if you need further help on this.

Hey Suja,

Thanks a ton for the response, its quite helpful. For now the info looks fine, if I need anything more I shall msg. you.

Rgds
Roopa