How to select the right foreign worker insurance

Most employees consider health insurance as the most important perk in their remuneration package and many studies and surveys have shown that a good health insurance plan increases the chances of retention and improving recruitment quality. It is mandatory for all those who are employing foreigners in their companies to get foreign worker medical insurance in most countries, including Singapore. However, not all insurance plans offer a good bargain and therefore should not be selected blindly.

Important points to remember while selecting the right insurance:

  • Compare the policies

Never look at just one insurance company’s plan, especially if you’re planning to have more than one foreign employee. The policy needs to be beneficial for both you and the employee. Look at at least a few options before freezing in on one.

The following factors should be kept in mind while comparing policies:

  • Cost

How much does the policy cost you? Is this something that you can bear even if your number of foreign employees increases? What is the cost of the plan, the deductibles, and the co-insurance costs (if any)? How much of it can be borne by the company? It also should be noted that deductibles and co-insurance costs should not be such that it affects the employee’s salary significantly.

  • Coverage

Some policies limit coverage to specific conditions or provide the absolute minimum coverage. These details are mostly written in fine print, so they need to be read carefully. Insurance policies that cover diseases should usually be avoided as their charges are higher than the chances of contracting one.

  • Reimbursement

Their compensation or reimbursements for individual incidents should be viewed to see whether the coverage actually does justice to hospital charges and doctor’s fees. Consulting a physician might be a good idea to understand if the amount mentioned seems reasonable or not.

 

  • Check the market

It is always good to know which policies competitors and other companies use for their foreign employees. It helps you to get an idea of the quality of service provided. In this day and age, when several insurance companies are facing bankruptcy issues, one can’t be too careful.

  • Get a broker

In case this overwhelms you, or you don’t have the time to review the policies in such detail you can always get a broker to compare policies for you. However, brokers are not always ethical or reliable and can influence the rates offered by insurance companies. Therefore, the background of brokers too, must be thoroughly investigated.

Once the foreign worker insurance policy is bought, you can’t reverse it without incurring some loss. Choose the one that benefits both you and the employee and spend time to find the right insurance policy.