26 Essential Considerations for Group Health Insurance
There are so many options when it comes to group health insurance, dozens of providers, so how do you get started? Here is a sample of some providers regionally here in Asia:
First, work with a reputable broker to save yourself/HR time, headache & hassle. There’s a stigma that brokers cost more. They don’t.
Brokers get a commission by the provider, but it does not cost your organization anything more. So take advantage of a professional broker who:
- Knows the market
- Has good Google Reviews
- Has modern technology like HR/employee portals
- Can provide you professional guidance and provide you quotes that are suitable to your company’s unique circumstances, needs & budget.
For a broker to do their job, they will cover a wide range of questions, such as:
Experience with Insurance
- What does an ideal plan look like for you? What concessions are you willing to make?
- What health insurance do you currently have, if any? If you could rate your current plan on a scale from 1-10, what score would it be? What would make it 10?
Structure & Budget
- Will everyone have the same benefits?
- Or are there tiers by level of employee? What are the definitions of each tier?
- Will dependents be allowed?
- What is your expected budget per person?
- What entity will be paying? Do you need a VAT invoice?
- Will you pay annually? Or do you want to pay quarterly or semi-annually?
Benefits & Coverage Area
- What benefits do you want?
- Do you want to see quotes with optional benefits like outpatient, dental or maternity?
- What coverage area is required?
- Do you offer group life insurance?
Census
- How many employees do you have?
- Do you expect to add many more people in the next year?
- Can you provide me a census with DOBs, gender, nationality, residence country, tiers, status employee, spouse, child?
Key Features
- What key features are important to you?
- MHD for pre-existing conditions?
- Outpatient direct billing?
- A provider that has an Employee Assistance Program?
- A provider that has direct billing at a specific hospital close to your office?
With dozens of providers, thousands of plans & ways to tweak things. Information is vital to begin the process of elimination so I can provide you suitable quotes, which are compiled into a comparison & presented to you followed by a Q&A session.
Your time is not wasted, nor is mine which I think we both appreciate.
From there you make an informed decision & have the support of broker on your side during the year to help with policy administration, claims, reimbursements, crisis management & an annual review.
If that doesn’t sound too bad, let’s talk.