As more companies are trying to attract the best talent, corporate health policies among other perks have become a standard feature of compensation packages. Such group health insurance (GHI) plans often involve coverage for one’s spouse and children. That is not the case with one’s parents, though. Still, some companies do permit the employees to pay an extra premium and extend the policy’s cover to parents as well. There is much debate over including parents in corporate health insurance policies.
On the one hand, it provides a cover without much hassle and at a relatively lower cost. At the same time, such coverage could be unreliable and may not be adequate for elderly parents.
Take a look at some of the benefits and disadvantages of including your parents in corporate health policy and decide based on your individual case.
The biggest advantage of a GHI plan is that it is quite hassle-free and low-cost. Your parents will not have to undergo any medical check-ups, nor will there be a need to deal with any major paperwork. The premium you might have to pay on top of a corporate health policy to include your parents would still be cheaper compared to the amount you would have to dish out for individual health plans.
Individual health policies might exclude pre-existing illnesses or have a waiting period before treatment is covered. This is not the case with many GHIs. These health insurance schemes will cover all illnesses from the moment they are activated and will not have a waiting period. If the coverage is too little for your purpose, you could opt for top-ups to extend it.
On the downside, the GHI plan might have limited coverage and not be adequate for all the healthcare needs of elderly people. If you have to add on too many top-ups and riders, the cost of the policy may balloon up a lot more, negating the benefit of low cost.
Apart from this, the policy will also be dependent on the employer. This means that the continuity and coverage benefit is completely up to the employer’s preferences. They could discontinue or reduce the amount you have access to if that suits them better. This makes such a plan quite unreliable and may leave you in a tough spot at the time of a medical emergency.
Including parents in corporate health policies can result in the sharing of personal medical information with the employer, which may compromise the privacy of the parents.
If your parents do not have a need for a wide coverage, and you have enough savings stowed away to deal with changes in the plan from your employer’s end, going for the GHI is a good idea. You could also pair it up with a low-premium or illness-specific individual plan if you want to save cost while extending the benefit.
However, if you want to keep privacy and coverage concerns at bay, and if you can afford an individual insurance plan for your parents, you can take on the one-time hassle of paperwork and get a reliable policy tailored to your parents’ needs.
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