Group Health Insurance for 500 Employees
A 500-person team in India typically pays about ₹225 to ₹880 per employee a month, depending on whether you pick ₹2 lakh or ₹5 lakh cover — roughly ₹13,50,000 to ₹52,80,000 a year for the whole team. A common ₹3 lakh plan lands near ₹320 to ₹480 per head each month. At 250 to 1,000 lives per-head rates sit near the floor, and your own claims history drives every renewal.
What a 500-employee plan costs by sum insured
Illustrative bands for a mid-market team on single-employee cover. Your actual premium depends on age mix, location, family cover and claims history — use the ranges to size a budget, not as a quote.
| Sum insured | Per employee / month | Approx. per employee / year | Whole team (500) / year |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹2,00,000 | ₹225 – ₹340 | ₹2,700 – ₹4,080 | ₹13,50,000 – ₹20,40,000 |
| ₹3,00,000 | ₹320 – ₹480 | ₹3,840 – ₹5,760 | ₹19,20,000 – ₹28,80,000 |
| ₹5,00,000 | ₹580 – ₹880 | ₹6,960 – ₹10,560 | ₹34,80,000 – ₹52,80,000 |
Ranges are typical, illustrative figures drawn from published 2025–26 SME group-health pricing, not a filed rate. Premiums are risk-rated per group; IRDAI-registered insurers set the final price.
Why 500 lives sits near the floor
Group premiums fall as headcount rises, and by 500 lives pooling volatility is gone — the pool is broad enough that no single claim moves the average, so the risk loading a small team pays has vanished. What you gain on top at this size is leverage at its peak: a 500-life account is fiercely competed for, so you can put it out to multiple insurers each year and shape co-payment, room-rent limits, buffer and wellness to shape the rate.
The trade-off is accountability: your incurred claims ratio now drives the price directly, so a heavy claims year is felt at renewal. That is why OPD and wellness that catch issues early pay for themselves at scale — and why Onsurity bundles them into the membership rather than charging for them as a rider.
Minimum-group rules: how a 500-person team is treated
At 500 lives eligibility is a given — the real questions are who competes for the account and how much servicing and governance you can command.
IRDAI floor: 7 lives
The regulator sets 7 lives as the minimum for a group policy. A 500-employee team is well into large-group territory, so eligibility is never a concern.
Traditional insurers: full competition
Every insurer — PSU and private — will pitch hard for a 500-life account. That competition is your lever on premium, sum insured, buffer size and MIS.
Onsurity: one model, no lump-sum
Onsurity issues a membership from as few as 2 lives and the same self-serve model runs a 500-life account — monthly billing per active employee, no annual lump-sum to front.
What changes at 500 lives
Four things that shape pricing and cover once your team reaches around five hundred people.
Pricing is fully experience-rated
At 500 lives your incurred claims ratio — claims paid against premium collected — is the single number that sets renewal. Run it under roughly 80% and you can hold or cut premium; run it hot and the next renewal loads to recover the gap.
Renewal is a competitive tender
A 500-life account is fiercely competed for, so you can put the policy out to multiple insurers each year and use co-pay, room-rent limits, buffer and wellness to shape a premium that fits budget — real leverage at its peak.
Grade tiers, buffer and super top-up
Grade-based sum-insured tiers let you match cover to role, a corporate buffer catches claims above an individual’s limit, and employees can layer a voluntary super top-up — so a serious hospitalisation is protected without lifting the base premium for everyone.
The case for partial self-funding
As claims data matures you can start weighing higher retention or partial self-funding — governed by monthly utilisation MIS and a named account manager who show you where claims cluster and let you act before it hits renewal.
One membership. Your whole team. No annual lump-sum.
Monthly billing per active employee, wellness and OPD included, and cover live from day one — from a 2-life minimum up to enterprise scale.
Get a group health quote
Cover a team of 500 the modern way
Onsurity issues a healthcare membership from as few as 2 lives, founders included, and bills monthly per active employee — so a team of five hundred never fronts a full year of premium in one cheque. Add joiners or remove leavers mid-cycle and billing trues up for the next month.
Wellness, OPD and day-1 cover come built into the membership rather than bolted on as costly riders — the same plan that starts small scales cleanly as you grow.
Estimate your own number
Group health premium calculator
Enter your headcount, age mix and sum insured to see an indicative monthly premium for your team.
Open the premium calculatorAdd accident & term life
Bundling group personal accident and term life with health often earns a combined discount. Size it here.
Open the GPA & life calculatorUnderstand what drives your premium
The levers that move a 500-person renewal: incurred claims ratio, corporate buffer, super top-up, sum insured and co-payment.
Sizing across headcounts? Compare the plan for 200 employees, step up to 1,000 employees or cover built for enterprises and the group health insurance overview.
Frequently asked questions
For a 500-person team, expect roughly ₹225 to ₹880 per employee a month depending on the sum insured — about ₹13,50,000 a year for the whole team on a ₹2 lakh plan, and up to ₹52,80,000 on a ₹5 lakh plan. A common ₹3 lakh plan runs near ₹19,20,000 to ₹28,80,000 a year for all five hundred.
A 500-life pool is broad enough that pooling volatility is gone — no single claim moves the average — so the risk loading smaller teams carry has vanished. On top of that, tender leverage is at its peak: a 500-life account is worth fighting for, so you can put the policy out to competing insurers each year to keep the per-head rate near the floor.
Decisively. At this size renewal is set by your incurred claims ratio — total claims paid divided by premium collected. Below about 80% you are in a strong position to hold or negotiate down; above 100% insurers will load the renewal. Wellness, OPD and early intervention are the main tools to keep that ratio healthy at 500 lives.
Yes. At 500 lives grade-based cover is standard: say ₹3 lakh for the wider team and ₹5 lakh for senior roles, with a shared corporate buffer above both, all under one master policy. Employees can also buy a voluntary super top-up for extra protection without raising the base premium.
Not with Onsurity. Rather than a single large annual premium for the whole team, cover runs as a monthly subscription billed per active employee, so a 500-person team never fronts a year of premium at once. Add or remove members mid-cycle and billing adjusts for the next month.
Ready to cover your team of 500?
Get a group health quote sized to your headcount and budget — monthly plans, wellness and OPD included, and cover live from day one.
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