Health Insurance Articles

The Advantages Of Group Health Insurance

2010-11-03

A group health insurance policy is one that provides health insurance coverage for a group of people. The advantages are numerous when people get their health insurance through a group medical coverage plan.

Group medical coverage could be from a company that offers health insurance plans to its employees. Group medical coverage can also be through clubs, chambers of commerce, organizations, religious groups, special interest groups and trade associations that offer group health insurance to its members.

So, why choose group health insurance coverage over other types of health insurance policies? Group health insurance plans are advantageous to the employer or group providing the insurance plan and to the employees or members receiving it.

Group health insurance plans are less expensive when compared to individual health insurance plans. This is because insurance providers make big profits from having more number of people on their insurance plans. This means, employees or members do not have to pay high insurance premium rates for their health insurance policy, which would have been the case if they had gone for individual health insurance coverage.

Another benefit of group medical coverage is that, since everyone in the group is covered under a group policy, there is no need for medical tests or declaration of pre-existing conditions. This is extremely beneficial for people with pre-existing diseases, who would have otherwise found it difficult to obtain health insurance. A group health insurance policy covers people irrespective of their age or current state of health.

Some employers and organizations even pay for their employees and members to have a yearly health check up at a private hospital. The health check can include blood pressure, blood tests, cholesterol level, height, weight, levels of fitness and others. This is another advantage of a group health insurance policy, especially when you consider the cost of a full health check up at a private hospital.

Other benefits of group health insurance include in-patient and day-patient treatment after an employee or a member has received a diagnosis, specialist consultations or out-patient treatments. Also, insurance premiums paid by an employer are not considered part of the employee's taxable salary. This means, more savings for the employer and the employee. Another advantage of group health insurance is that, even if an employee loses his or her job, he or she can still be covered by the group health insurance policy for 18 months.

Group health insurance policies have several advantages over individual health insurance policies. Not only are the insurance premium rates cheaper, employees and members of groups are eligible for better benefits. This could include free yearly health checks, free medical help lines and coverage regardless of age or present state of health.