International Group Health Insurance

Advantages  for employers and other groups

• Group Health Insurance offers many of the advantages and benefits described in the main article on Health Insurance, but without many of the restrictions and negative aspects of such policies.
   

• Group policies are primarily designed for those situations where there is an employer-employee group; a group made up of persons in a similar professional or occupational situation, such as a professional partnership or a trade union or association; or any other entity which is already in existence and not formed specifically for the purposes of purchasing health insurance.
  
  Each Insurance Company has differing rules as to the number of primary insureds (that is: individuals who would apply for coverage for themselves and, where applicable, for their families) constitutes a group, but it can be as low as three (3) primary insureds.

Applying for a Group Policy...

For a group (which meets the minimum requirements of a group as defined by each Insurance Company), there are international group health policies which will waive some or all underwriting requirements and provide coverage with minimal or no medical information, regardless of any individual's health status.

There still may be some restrictions, such as requiring a medical exam for any individual over age 60 or a cap on benefits for pre-existing conditions, but by and large, these policies provide an automatic coverage to all members of the group.

Additional primary insureds...

To add additional primary insureds (and their families), it is usually a simple procedure involving the completion of a short informational application form with whatever simplified underwriting standards are applicable for that group policy.

Many group policies include a provision which permits a primary insured leaving the group (or a family member who is no longer eligible as a dependent) to transfer their coverage to an individual health policy but without going through the full underwriting process that is normally required with such a policy.

Paying premiums...

Premiums for group insurance are normally payable on a group billing basis - i.e. through a single bill for all members of the group. The employer or administrator of the group would be responsible for the payment of a single remittance to the Insurance Company for all members of the group. In the case of a small group, an Insurance company may be willing to offer direct individual billing and payment of premiums.

Renewing Coverage...

As always, guaranteed renewability of an insurance policy is fundamental to the selection of a policy. If there is no guarantee to renew coverage regardless of claims experience and/or any insured person's health condition at the renewal date, beware! Cancellation of coverage by an Insurance Company is not what you want to have to face when you and your group are least expecting it!

This quick look at group health insurance is to remind you, as always, that there are no bargains out there. You should always use the services of an experienced international insurance consultant to assist you in selecting a group policy.



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Ibencon LLC
The Innovative Benefits Consultants
2600 Netherland Avenue, No.417, Riverdale, NY 10463, U.S.A.
40 Homer Street, London W1H 1HL, UK
Phone or Fax:  +1 (215) 243-7311
Email: Info@ibencon.com

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