Why Should Frontline Blue-Collar Workers Have Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance?

Unequal access to public healthcare services is a problem plaguing India. Inadequate infrastructure especially in rural areas, and a lack of qualified healthcare workers means that a huge percentage of the population can’t get timely medical attention.

Over 66% of India’s population is in rural areas, where the doctor-to-patient ratio remains low at 0.7 doctors per 1000 people.

These are areas from where over 70% of blue-collar workers migrate to cities in search of work. Companies must provide health insurance for employees, to engage and retain them.

Attracting and Retatining Talent

The blue-collar workforce was the worst hit by the pandemic. They suffered from the harsh impacts of reverse migration, unemployment, and the spread of Covid-19.

Several sectors of the economy are still reeling under manpower shortage, with workers going back to their hometowns. To join the workforce again, they need assurances from employers.

By providing employees with financial assistance and employee benefits, like health insurance and workers’ compensation, employers can promise a safe and profitable workplace. They will feel valued which can mean them remaining with the organisation for a long period.

Increasing Productivity and Loyalty

Frontline blue-collar workers are considerably stressed out about themselves and their families than others.

Many of them have bad living conditions, exposed to workplace hazards and communicable diseases, and excessively make negative lifestyle choices; all of which lead to frequent bouts of life-threatening and critical illnesses.

With work being labour-intensive, they suffer from chronic pain issues too. Naturally, their low wages aren’t insufficient enough to meet rising healthcare costs.

Out-of-pocket medical expenditure is a significant stress factor for them. Access to affordable healthcare for them and their families can improves their living standards and lead to peace of mind.

Health insurance for employees can thus boost their morale and lead to increased workplace productivity. They feel acknowledged which can also lead to lower absenteeism.

Creating a Humane Brand

By providing insurance and other financial benefits for employees, employers create a positive brand image. People-centric organisations have greater customer support.

The young millennial and Gen Z consumers in particular prefer brands that have societal impact, and positive employee value propositions.

Lower Insurance Costs

Companies can offer health insurance for employees at affordable costs as the risk is more spread out. At competitive rates, they can offer flexible insurance policies for an evolving gig workforce.

What Kind of Health Insurance Policies Do Workers Want?

With the government keen to bring the unorganised sector under social security schemes, India Inc. will need to level up its benefits program for workers. Health insurance for employees can be a major morale booster, but the policies should help workers in crises.

Insurance when combined with technological offerings, provides many benefits to companies and workers alike:

Personalised Policies: Employees should be able to choose their insurance benefits, terms, and conditions. One-solution-for-all rarely works when it comes to insurance policies. For instance, women employees should be able to include maternity benefits.

24/7 Claims Assistance: Workers will appreciate 24/7 claims assistance to get answers to their queries in crisis. In this way, companies too can reduce operational overheads. Otherwise, they would need to hire a huge claims assistance team that works round-the-clock.

Easy Onboarding: Providing a smooth online experience is an important part of satisfying the young digital-savvy blue-collar workers. Employees should be able to onboard themselves for health insurance policies, with minimal documentation, in a hassle-free manner. They should have a dedicated app to educate them about various policies in their native tongues.

Provide Superior Insurance Benefits with BetterPlace

BetterPlace offers an end-to-end, full-stack tech-based insurance platform for managing all requirements of your blue-collar workforce. This includes everything from policy distribution to analytics, for understanding the impact of insurance coverage. Contact us to learn more.