A group health insurance plan offered by your employer could have some unique benefits especially if you’re seeking coverage for pre-existing diseases for yourself or your parents, in the short-term. 

This type of health insurance kicks in on your joining date and covers you until you’re employed in the same organisation. One of the best advantages with corporate policies is the Day-1 coverage -  meaning the policy starts working on your first day at work!

Errr… But does it? Can you actually claim from the policy as soon as you join? Technically, yes. Having said that, there are often processes you’ll have to go through, forms to fill, profiles to update - before you can start reaping the benefits. 

So - here’s a quick checklist of such things to do, so you can start enjoying your employer health insurance cover at the earliest. 

5 things you should do to kickstart your employer health insurance

1️⃣ Update the health insurance profile for yourself and your family

When you join a company, you’ll get your employee ID and onboarding details which need to be updated on the insurance portal. It is easily assumed that it's the HRs job to do this. But they won't, and might not even recommend that you do it. Therefore, you’ll have to manually log onto the insurance portal and update personal details of you and your family like name, age, medical conditions etc. and then download an insurance card. 

2️⃣ Follow up for TPA card/ eCard

The TPA card is an identity card that will help you to avail the facility of cashless hospitalization. In the absence of a physical card, you can submit an e-card along with any approved id proof. So, until you receive the TPA card for each family member, make sure you diligently follow up with your employer. Once you get them, double-check whether all the details on the card such as name, age, contact details, coverage, etc. are correct.

3️⃣ Go through the policy document

Once you receive the policy document, make a detailed list of all the diseases and conditions that your policy covers and doesn’t. You can go through this list quickly whenever you or your family needs to get urgently treated, instead of going through the whole policy document and wasting precious time. You should also check for any additional conditions or offers mentioned in the policy such as a free health checkup that you or your family can benefit from. 

4️⃣ Make a list of networked hospitals

Your insurance company would have a tie-up with a certain list of hospitals - referred to as networked hospitals. if you get treated at these hospitals, you’ll get cashless services. So, make sure you create a list of these networked hospitals beforehand. This will ensure that you have ready access to the list whenever there is a sudden hospitalisation and you can quickly reach the nearest one without delay. 

5️⃣ Inform your family about the policy

This one is easy to miss. You’re excited about the new job, and once home, tell them everything about the new role, your team and work. But - you don’t anticipate that the health insurance policy is important - right at this instant. It slips your mind - and you never think about it, or discuss it with your family again! And, when you need a sudden hospitalisation, your family is not even aware of this plan that could provide financial support. Don’t let this happen to you. Share details of the plan with your family as soon as possible - along with the inclusions, exclusions, benefits and processes. 

While the employer health insurance plan comes with limitations in terms of customising it to your needs - it can come in handy in case you haven’t yet invested into a good personal insurance plan. Additional benefits such as Day-1 coverage, no waiting period for pre-existing diseases, and free health checkups can make it enticing for instant coverage for you and your family. 

However, you must take care of all the above-mentioned pointers if you want to get a seamless claim in a time of need. 

Can you think of any other points, we might be forgetting? Add in the comments below. :)