Whether you have a corporate health insurance (policy offered by your employer) or a retail policy, being able to claim the policy in your time of medical need is the essential part.
While a corporate medical policy is a great benefit you have as an employee, it can come with certain limitations or downsides. It might not be what you need and what you want in a health insurance policy. It might be a wise decision to choose a health insurance policy on your own despite being covered under a corporate plan.
Here are some reasons why you need a retail medical policy in addition to your corporate medical policy:
A Personalised Plan – Employers offer one-size-fits-all medical policies that may not provide you with the coverage you wish for. For example, many corporate medical plans do not provide coverage against pre-hospitalization charges, post-hospitalization charges, OPD expenses, daycare procedures, etc. Moreover, your corporate plan may also have limitations such as the room rent limit and co-pay wherein you will be bound to pay a certain percentage of the total medical expense. Hence, despite filing a health insurance medical claim, you will have to bear a significant chunk of medical expenses throughout the life of the policy.
When you go out to buy a retail health insurance policy on your own, you can choose the benefits that your policy offers. You get to determine what is covered, and you get to decide for yourself.
Additional Coverage – If you think that the coverage your corporate health insurance policy offers is inadequate as per your needs, then you can opt for a retail plan. It will allow you to enjoy the benefit of increased coverage or sum insured. This way, you will be able to claim from your retail policy if you have exhausted the limit in your corporate plan.
Coverage for Family – Corporate health insurance is meant to cover the medical expenses of employees. Hence, they may or may not include the family members of the policyholder, such as parents, spouses, and dependent children. And to extend coverage, you will need to pay an additional premium cost.
On the other hand, you can buy a retail family floater health insurance policy that also covers your dependents.
Insurance Validity Even After Quitting the Job – You cannot avail the benefits of corporate health insurance or corporate medical plan after you quit the job. Moreover, you cannot continue your corporate policy hoping that you will pay for the premium on your own after you quit your job. To avoid such circumstances, you can buy a retail policy and continue enjoying the benefits lifelong if you always renew it on time.
Validity After Retirement – Corporate health insurance plans expire after retirement. So, if you have some chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, which have no co-relation with age and stay lifelong, you will need to buy a whole new retail medical plan. Moreover, as you age, you become more prone to health problems. Hence, you will have no option than to buy a retail plan. And if you decide to buy a retail or personal health insurance plan when you’re old, the policy will be costly, i.e., the premium will be very high.
To make sure that you’re not left uninsured or under covered, evaluate your requirements and needs to judge if you need an additional retail health insurance policy on top of your corporate plan.
