Maternity Plan - Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Opt For One?

You are all set to welcome a little munchkin into your life and you are all set to welcome a plethora of responsibilities into your life as well. Your happiness knows no bounds when you realize you are going to bring in a new life to this world. However, these moments of happiness are also accompanied by latent fears and worries. 

These fears and worries are due to a lot of underlying reasons like the medical procedures, expenses related to delivery, health of the mother and the baby, etc. all leading to a state of physical and mental turmoil. In such situation, some of this turmoil can be reduced by taking up a health insurance plan with maternity coverage.

What is a Maternity Health Insurance plan?

 A health insurance plan with maternity coverage is basically designed with features to cover the expenses related to both the expecting mother and the newborn baby. Maternity coverage provides coverage for expenses related to medical care and facilities during pregnancy, expenses during delivery, expenditure related to pre-natal and post-natal care, etc. 

Ideally, maternity coverage is included in your general health insurance as an add-on. The health insurance plan providing maternity coverage will also include coverage for newborn baby up to certain duration of time i.e. for a period of 90 days in most cases. After the period of 90 days, your baby can be included in the health insurance plan by payment of an additional premium.

Why do you need maternity health insurance coverage?

Maternity health insurance coverage is necessary because the expenses related to different medications during pregnancy, delivery, neonatal care, etc. will be a huge amount and you should be well prepared for this.

A general health insurance policy does not provide any coverage during pregnancy and will be of no use while delivery. So, including this additional coverage i.e. maternity cover in a general health insurance policy is important to meet the expenses especially when the cost of medical facilities is soaring high.

Top #5 Most Important Coverage Benefits under Maternity Health Insurance plan

1. Pre-hospitalisation and post-hospitalisation

Maternity health insurance plans provide coverage for the expenses which are incurred before actual hospitalisation i.e. up to a period of 30 days before hospitalisation.

Expenses incurred up to 60 days after hospitalisation i.e. post-hospitalisation expenses are covered under maternity benefits.  

2. Prenatal and post-natal expenses

Pre-natal and post-natal expenses are covered under maternity health insurance plans. Expenses related to health care of baby, vaccinations, medical facilities in case of any unfortunate critical illness in the newborn baby, etc. are covered under maternity plans.

3. Comprehensive coverage

A good health insurance policy with maternity cover provides comprehensive coverage i.e. maternity coverage, newborn cover, ambulance expenditure, domiciliary hospitalisation expenses, complimentary health checkups, etc. 
Even delivery costs are covered in case of both either a normal delivery or a C-section. This will include the pre-natal and the post-natal expenses also and even coverage for any health complications which might have started after the delivery.

4. Cashless hospitalisation

The entire expenditure related to delivery and other medical facilities are cashless in nature. The bills would be settled between the insurance provider and network hospital without causing any problem for the insured person.
Child delivery can be quite an expensive proposition at times with a lot of medical bills piling up and hence cashless hospitalisation might be a good proposition. 

You may also like to read Best cashless health insurnace polices in India

5. Newborn coverage

Health Insurance policies with maternity coverage also provide coverage to the newborn baby up to certain duration of time i.e. up to 90 days in most cases. During this period, all major expenses related to the newborn baby such as pre-natal expenses, post-natal expenses, vaccination charges, any critical illnesses if suffered by the baby such as congenital diseases, etc. are covered under the health insurance policy with maternity coverage.

Later on, after the period of 90 days is over; your newborn baby can be included in your general health insurance policy by paying an additional premium.  

Exclusions of maternity health insurance plans, should be kept in mind

However, there are certain expenses as well which are not covered under a health insurance policy with maternity benefits.

1. The expenses incurred in visits of the doctor for check-ups related to health care are not included under the coverage included in a maternity health plan.

2. Expenses incurred in diagnostic examinations, medical tests and health check-ups during the period of pregnancy are not covered in the maternity health benefits.

3. Expenses incurred in purchase of vitamins and tonics during the course of pregnancy are not covered under the maternity health insurance plans.

4. Pre-existing ailments suffered by the expecting mother before pregnancy such as diabetes or high blood pressure, etc. are usually not covered under the health insurance policies with maternity benefits. Moreover, in health insurance pregnancy itself is considered to be a pre-existing condition and insurance providers do not provide maternity coverage if the policyholder is already pregnant at the time of purchase of the policy.

5. Health Insurance plans with maternity coverage do not cover the expenses incurred in the treatment of any congenital disease suffered by the expecting mother.

Top #4 Points which should not be ignored while purchasing maternity health insurance plans

There are certain factors that should be always considered or kept in mind while purchasing maternity health insurance plans.

1. Waiting Period

Usually, all health insurance policies with maternity benefits come up with a waiting period of 36 months to 72 months of being renewed continuously.  After serving the waiting period only, you are eligible to make claims.  This is why it is advisable to take up a health insurance plan with maternity coverage as early as possible so as to avoid these problems. 

However, there are some insurance providers who have come up with new individual plans that have a low waiting period of almost 9 months. Also, most group health plans have a 9-month waiting period as well.

You may also like to read Top health insurance plans with regard to the waiting period

2. Cost effective

Another major factor that should not be ignored while purchasing a maternity health insurance plan is the premium to be paid. In order to avail the benefits, you will have to pay the insurance premium and you should be cautious about the premium that has to be paid. The premium must be reasonable and according to the benefits that are being provided for the plan.

3. Additional coverage and sub-limits

You can have a check regarding if other additional benefits are being provided by the maternity health plan such as cover for expenses incurred in termination of pregnancy due to medical complications. Also, you should be quite careful about the sub-limits such as whether the maternity health plan which you are willing to purchase provides coverage in case of both normal and C-section deliveries or not. You can also check for any further exclusion which has been included in the plan. 

4. Additional perks

There can be some extra perks that can be obtained from the maternity health plans. You need to be vigilant to look for such options always. Suppose, you already have a health insurance plan with maternity benefits provided at your workplace; if the benefits are similar you do not need to buy another one. Otherwise, if you have already purchased another plan, then you can make claims from one plan and use the other one to claim the no-claim bonus. 

You may also like to read 7 best health insurance policies with no claim bonus

Top #5 Maternity Health Insurance plans in India

Let us have a look at some of the health insurance plans with maternity coverage provided by various insurance providers in the country.

1. Star Health Insurance –

The maternity health insurance plan by Star Health Insurance is known as Wedding Gift Insurance plan. This has a waiting period of 3 years and coverage of Rs. 10 lakhs along with coverage for pre-hospitalisation, post-hospitalisation and other expenses. 

2. Royal Sundaram Health Insurance – 

The health insurance plan by Royal Sundaram which provides maternity coverage is known as Lifeline Elite. This plan provides comprehensive coverage along with numerous benefits such as coverage for critical illness, maternity expenses, etc.

3. Max Bupa Health Insurance - Heartbeat Family Floater Plan –

The Heartbeat Family Floater Plan is the health insurance plan provided by Max Bupa health insurance. This plan provides maternity coverage for up to two deliveries with a waiting period of two years.

Hence, motherhood is an important phase of your life which would bring lots of happiness. This phase should not be filled with worries and stress regarding medical expenses and finances. So, an early purchase of a health insurance policy with a maternity cover will help you in reducing your financial burden so as to enjoy this precious moment of your life.

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