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Health Insurance

Post By Joan

Do I Really Need Maternity Insurance?

Expecting a new member is surely an exciting time for the family, but it also calls for you to realistically start looking at your finances. As a responsible parent, you need to be well-prepared early on to meet the costs associated with pregnancy and the delivery of the new-born. Now, given that the cost of hospital expenses are rising quickly, especially those related to maternity and child care, it is important for married couples to chalk out a financial plan as to how they will handle the costs related to pregnancy. Having a maternity cover in place can help meet such expenses as it will not only take some of the financial burden off your shoulders, you can be there for your family without any stress.

What is covered under maternity insurance?

What is covered under maternity insurance will vary from one insurer to another. Here are some of the general expenses covered under this policy:

Delivery expenses (normal or caesarean)
Pre-hospitalisation expenses (30 days)
Post-hospitalisation expenses (60 days)
Ambulance charges
Newborn baby cover

The benefit limit for maternity insurance can be anywhere between ₹15,000-80,000 for normal deliveries and between ₹25,000-1,00,000 for caesarean births. It must be noted that the coverage will vary depending on the kind of health policy you have availed. Although the figure may seem insufficient considering maternity costs in leading hospitals in metros, but it can help bring down the burden of these expenses.

What is the waiting period?

There is a waiting period of 3 to 5 years before one is eligible to make a maternity-related claim. The only exception to plans with such long waiting period is Religare's Joy - Maternity Focus Plan where the waiting period is 9 months. If you are considering getting a maternity cover, it is advisable to buy the cover as early as possible - an apt time could be right after you tie the knot.

Are you aware about different types of waiting periods in health insurance?

How much will it cost me?

Health insurance policies that include maternity cover are substantially costlier. The reason for high premiums is because one is most certainly going to file a claim for maternity insurance. So, since the insurer believes that a claim is bound to happen, they charge high premiums for health plans that have maternity cover. It helps if you do a cost-benefit analysis of the plans available in the market and then pick the one you want.

Conclusion

Increase in maternity cost over the past couple of years is forcing individuals to look for ways to fund this expense and that is why health insurance providers highlight the maternity benefit feature in their policies. If you are thinking about including maternity cover to your health plan, make sure to fully understand the scope, exclusions and pricing of these policies. It is advisable that you also create a separate medical fund to meet this requirement.