Most salaried people enjoy a health insurance cover provided by their employer. However, it is not always a good idea to solely rely on a group health policy. There are a number of reasons behind this. First and foremost, in a group policy, you are at the mercy of your employer. If your employer decides to reduce the cover, there is very little you can do about it. Then, the policy may or may not cover your parents and other family members. Most importantly though, the reason why you must have your own health plan is that if you suddenly lose your job, you won't be left with a health insurance coverage. Take a look at the points mentioned below to understand why it is necessary to have an individual health plan over and above a group health plan.

The employer may take the insurance back

Some employers offer the health insurance cover as a bonus to the employees. However, the employer has the right to take this bonus back. In other cases, the employer may continue with the policy but the employee may have to pay the premiums. To avoid being entangled in such problems, it is always advisable to have an individual health plan as well.

Exclusion of family members

When you buy a health insurance plan, you usually have your entire family including your children and parents covered. These days however it is a common trend for parents to be left out of group health plans. So if you want a comprehensive cover for your entire family, get a good individual health plan which you can customize to accommodate every member of your family.

Change of coverage when switching jobs

When you leave one employer to join another, your group health cover also changes. So you cannot expect to get the same benefits and your new employer may offer you an insufficient amount of coverage. Also, you remain uninsured in the period between the two jobs. So even if you have a break of a week between the two jobs, you will quite dangerously be left without health insurance! Having an individual plan at such a time proves to be helpful.

Post retirement days

A lot of people face severe problems after retirement when their health cover is literally taken away overnight. The coverage ends as soon as the person retires and leaves the employer. And then, at the age of 60 or 65, the person finds it very difficult to get a health plan. So think ahead and plan for your retirement years. It is much easier and cheaper for you to get an individual health plan at a younger age than at an older age.

A group health plan is not a bad tool at all. In fact it is a very useful thing as you can get coverage even if you are already affected by an illness. However, since you have no control over the plan, it is advisable to opt for a secondary individual health plan as well. This will not only help you plan your insurance coverage, it will also give you a lot of mental peace and support.

Written By: Deepak Yohannan
The author is the CEO of MyInsuranceClub.com, an online insurance price & features comparison portal

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