Health insurance is extremely important to employees of any company. It is now regarded as a mandatory condition in the employment package. As an employer whether you’re researching more cost-effective health plans or researching health benefits for small employers for the first time, a common question is, “How much does it cost to provide health insurance to employees?”
How much does group health insurance cost?
When an employer decides on a health insurance plan (or plans) to cover all employees and dependents of the company, they purchase a type of coverage which is commonly called a “group health insurance plan”.
In 2019, in the Maldivian insurance market, the average cost of insurance per employee was USD 227 with sum coverage totaling up to USD 9727, considering the employee count as 200 pax. Although numbers varied by company and provider, the average costs continued to rise.
In 2019, the cost of group health insurance averaged USD 227 annually to cover the medical expenses of each employee while USD 726 was the lowest premium rate for an individual aged between 30-39.
Typically, there will be an increase every year on premium per employee of a Group Health Insurance policy as premium pricing depends on the previous year’s claim history. This is a norm that is seen every year in the Maldives and it’s a headache for HR Managers to renew group health policies as most of the time they would have budgeted the same amount as the previous year. However, there are a few things that you can do to reduce the cost and control claims.
How can you control group health insurance costs?
The following factors affect the cost of providing health insurance;
- The insurance provider
- The type of plan you choose
- The network of empaneled providers in a plan
- Plan features: deductibles, copayment amount, out-of-pocket maximums
- The demographics of your employees (your plan rates account for the “risk pool” at your company; older workforces tend to have higher healthcare costs which might increase your rates)
- And most importantly, control of claims via digital means
Allied Digital Health Insurance Reimbursement. Save Time and Control Costs.
Allied Insurance Group Health Insurance service comes attached with the Maldives first Digital Health Claims Service. Any company that has a group health insurance policy from Allied can ask their employees to simply log on to www.myallied.mv and lodge their own claims and track them. Gone are the days when HR managers must sift through hundreds of employee medical bills and fill out claim forms and wait for over a month and a half to get employees their money reimbursed.
This approach can also educate the employees who sometimes have no idea how costly their causal visit to the hospital to get a medical certificate can be for you. Once they are engaged in the process and see the amounts, most employees would refrain from this habit and it can save you from paying a higher premium in the second year.
In Conclusion
Employees today expect employers to offer a health benefit, but many smaller organizations find group health insurance a pricey investment. While there are a few ways to try to reduce the cost of group health insurance, a digital claims process for employees puts them in control of their costs. Employees of the new era will often prefer this option as they get to control their own insurance plan—one that meets their current life needs.
About the author: Mr. Hassan Shiham is the Assistant Manager of Sales, Marketing & Customer Service at Allied Insurance Company of the Maldives. Mr. Shiham is an Associate of Malaysian Institute and holds a Bachelors in Islamic Banking & Finance. He has been a significant part of Allied for the past 13 years and is currently playing a vital role in managing the day to day operations of the Clients Service Department.
