How Onsurity fills in the mental wellness gap in corporate healthcare programs?

The IRDA, in 2018, had issued a circular asking all insurance companies to comply with the law that said every insurer must create provisions for medical insurance for the treatment of mental illness, just as they do for physical illnesses. But very rarely you will find mental illnesses inclusion promoted by any insurance firm on the first page of their website.  

Although it cannot be ignored that the insurance firms have taken several strides from once considering mental illnesses a taboo to today adding mental wellness coverage in their plan, there are still many areas that it’s behind on. And the story is the same for both individual and employer-provided Group Health Insurance. 

In the corporate space, mental wellness coverage has become one of the most talked-about employee benefits. While the wake of COVID-19 can be touted to be a reason behind this popularity, mental health is something that has been lurking around since long before now.  

But today, employers have been a lot more empathetic in how they approach their employees’ mental health. Something that becomes all the more evident with statistics like these –  

Although the numbers are definitely positive, they are not universal. A majority of the companies, especially the ones falling into the SMEs and startups segment are still relying on their Group Health Insurance providers to protect their employees against mental illnesses.  

Before we explain how Onsurity fills in the gap that the insurance companies are not able to fill, it is very important to understand what you get when you get mental illness coverage in insurance.  

Things to know about mental illness coverage in corporate health insurance 

Limited OPD care  

The mental health treatments are very different from their physical counterparts. As opposed to physical illness, mental health patients require OPD care and outpatient treatment – something that very limited insurance providers offer.  

Waiting period 

The waiting period for mental illness benefits in most cases are 2 years. So, if you buy a health insurance today, you will have to wait for 2 years before you can claim the expenses due to mental illness. So while it takes an hour for an experienced mental health professional to diagnose the condition, it would take 2 years waiting period to claim the expenses.  

Definition of mental illnesses and inclusions 

Mental illness can be defined as having a “substantial disorder of thinking, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgement, behavior, capacity to recognize reality or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.” 
Conditions related to the abuse of alcohol and drugs are covered under this definition as well; however, mental retardation has been excluded.  

The summary of the coverage details present the picture that while getting coverage is a possibility once you are diagnosed with the mental illness, there is not much at the precaution and preliminary stage. This is where Onsurity comes in.  

How Onsurity fills in the mental wellness gap in corporate healthcare programs?

We at Onsurity, believe that mental health is as important, and sometime even more, as physical health, which means it is not enough for the insurance benefits to get triggered at the time of hospitalization. Mental health should be prevented from becoming mental illnesses. This is the reason why we have partnered with Mindpeers to provide mental wellness counselling to our members.  

Every Onsurity membership comes with discounted therapy and mental wellbeing sessions, all of which can be held virtually, for the employees, only at the cost of Rs.145 per month. By including preventative mental wellbeing sessions in our plans, we ensure that the employees never have to face hospitalizations. And if they do reach a stage where they need hospitalization, we have partnered with the best insurance providers to give them all the support they require.  

You can subscribe to Onsurity healthcare plans starting at Rs 145/month from here in just 2 min or you can reach us directly at partners@onsurity.com if you have any questions.