Indian cos give hospital coverage only to employee, dependents

At a time when globally comprehensive health coverage services are being offered by companies, in India, insurers only provide hospitalisation coverage to employees and their dependants, according to a recent survey.
"Globally, comprehensive health coverage is prevalent in most major markets, whereas in India, companies are still offering only hospitalisation coverage for employees and their dependants," according to 'Annual All Industries Benchmarking Survey 2014' survey by Vantage Health & Benefits Consulting, released today.
However, in most markets, health coverage for dependant parents are usually covered either under the social security scheme or individually funded insurance coverage, the study said.
"With the rapid evolution of the Indian workplace led by strong changes in the socio-economic structure of the country and new aspirations of the young generation, it has become imperative for organisations to establish a human-to-human relationship with their employees and even with their families. Compensation cannot achieve that but benefits can," Laddha said.

In India, majority times, dependent parents are covered under the corporate health insurance policy, it added.
About 65 per cent of the companies provide dependant parent coverage, which is not provided in most other major markets, the report revealed.

The survey is based on the responses received from 129 organisations, both Indian and multinational, representing all major industries such as Hi-Tech, BFSI, E-commerce and Retail, Manufacturing, Consumer Goods and FMCG and Pharmaceuticals.
The survey further revealed that in the developed markets, Employee Health Management initiatives are driven by Disease management and behaviour change programmes.
"In India, we are still in early stages of evolution of the Employee Health Management concept and therefore, currently the employee wellness initiatives are dominated by awareness creation and health screening programmes," Laddha added.