Providing Medical Reimbursement to Employees: Is It a Good Choice?

Does Medical Reimbursement to Employees Benefits the Organisation?

Medical reimbursement procedures may prove to be a costly affair for an organisation. Let us understand it with an example. For medical reimbursement, an organisation may have to bear the additional administrative cost. It is required to set a procedure to collect the bills from the employees for the process of reimbursement. Then, the organization needs to obtain the authenticity of the bills and invoices provided, for which a few dedicated personnel may be hired. 

In order to obtain realism, some dedicated personnel are required to be appointed to check the authenticity of the invoices. All these steps make the process time-consuming and costly. Hence, medical reimbursement to employees may not benefit the organization to a greater extent.

Alternatives for Medical Reimbursement to Employees that Benefits the Organisation

To alter the cost and time involved in medical reimbursement, an organization may opt for a group mediclaim policy. Group health insurance works as the best alternative and overcomes the demerits engaged in medical reimbursement.

The following reasons demonstrate how a group mediclaim policy is better and more beneficial than medical reimbursement.

1. Time-saving option

   The group mediclaim policy is a time-saving option for the organization. Medical reimbursement procedure is time and resource-consuming. On the other hand, in a group mediclaim policy, all the burden of administrative operations goes to the insurance company and benefits the organization.

2. Holistic coverage

   The group mediclaim policy gives more coverage to the employees. If you choose a comprehensive group mediclaim policy, your employees will not only enjoy health coverage but also healthcare benefits such as regular health checkups, OPD, dental care, wellness benefits and more. By buying a group mediclaim policy, an organization helps provide better overall health care to its employees.

3. Quick treatment

   In medical reimbursement, an organization reimburses the medical cost for the employee, when the latter shows the original bills or invoices of the medical expenses. In reimbursement, the employee bears the expenses initially and gets reimbursed for the same later by the employer. However, in the group mediclaim policy, the employee need not incur out-of-pocket expenses as his medical expenses are covered by the employer.

4. Cost savings for the organization

   Group mediclaim policy saves the administrative cost for the organization. In addition, the organization may enjoy tax exemption benefits on the premium it pays on behalf of its employees to the insurance company.

Conclusion

In India, medical reimbursement and group medical insurance are two of the most common employee benefits offered by the employer. However, one has the edge over the other. From the above points, it can be concluded that a group mediclaim policy offers more benefits to both parties, the employer and the employee than a medical reimbursement. Also, in the longer run, medical reimbursement to employees may not benefit the organization and the employee.