Key idea
Group health cover from your job is a genuine benefit, but leaning on it alone leaves a gap that appears at the worst possible moment.
Many salaried people assume their employer's group health policy has them covered, and skip buying their own. It is a useful benefit, but it has three weaknesses that a personal policy does not.
Where group cover falls short
Employer group cover
- Free or cheap while employed
- Often covers family too
- Usually no waiting periods
- But: tied entirely to the job
Its blind spots
- Ends the day you leave or lose the job
- Sum insured is often modest
- Employer can change or cut it
- No cover between jobs, or after retiring
The gap that bites
The problem shows up exactly when you are most exposed: a job loss, a switch with a gap month, or retirement, often at an age when buying fresh cover is costlier and pre-existing conditions have appeared. The time to hold a personal policy is before you need it, while you are young and healthy.
Treat employer cover as a bonus on top, not your foundation. A personal policy you own and control travels with you across every job change and into retirement.
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