Maternity health insurance policy is designed to provide financial assistance to women by providing coverage for all their pregnancy-related expenses. Typically, maternity insurance policies go above and beyond standard health insurance policies. These provide coverage for pre-hospitalisation, post-natal, day-care, and other such expenses. They usually have a waiting period, but they prove to be extremely helpful in times of need.
Motherhood is never easy, and the struggle for every woman starts from her initial days of pregnancy. With each passing day, medical science is advancing. As a result, the complications in pregnancies are detected in the initial stages. Keeping the complications away often leads to long medical bills. This puts a lot of financial burden on the people, especially if they aren’t prepared adequately. This is where maternity health insurance acts as a boon for people by providing financial coverage for pregnancy costs. Moreover, complicated or not, every pregnancy demands special financial attention. Maternity insurance plans allow you to get rid of financial worries as it provides coverage for all big and small expenses related to your maternity period.
Maternity expenses are usually not covered in most health insurance policies. Only the insurers providing fully inclusive medical insurance policies provide maternal and newborn coverage. Others offer maternity insurance as an add-on policy. As a result, many people do not know that their insurance policy does not cover pregnancy-related expenses.
Here are the top health insurance plans offering maternity coverage as an add-on in 2022:
Name of the Plan | Insurance Company | Sum Insured | Age of Entry |
Activ Health Platinum – Enhanced Plan | Aditya Birla Health | Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 2 crore | 91 days and above |
Smart Super Health Insurance Policy | Bharti AXA Health | Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 1 crore | NA |
Health Guard Gold Family Floater Health Insurance Policy | Bajaj Allianz Health | Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh | 18 years to 65 years |
SBI Arogya Premier Plan | SBI Health | Rs.10 lakhs to Rs.30 lakh | 3 months to 65 years |
Tata AIG Medicare Premier Plan | Tata AIG Health | Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh | Up to 65 years |
Gold and Platinum Plan | Edelweiss Health | Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 1 crore | 90 days to 65 years |
Future Generali Comprehensive Health Insurance (Superior and Premium) | Future Generali Health | Premium Plan – Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore; Superior Plan – Rs. 15 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh | 18 years and above |
Heartbeat Family Floater Plan | Max Bupa Health | Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 1 crore | 18 years to 65 years |
Privilege Healthline Insurance Plan | Cholamandalam | Rs. 5 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh | 18 years and above |
NaviCure | Navi | Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 1 crore | 18 years and above |
Pregnancy is a challenging time for would-be mothers. However, having a financial safety net of pregnancy insurance policy, lets a mother prepare for childbirth better. Here are the benefits of getting a maternity health insurance policy:
1. Provides Extensive Coverage
Maternity health insurance provides coverage for all the hospitalization charges including ambulance charges, consultation fees, nursing expenses, room charges, OT charges, doctor’s fees, surgeon’s fees, anaesthetic consultation, regular check-ups before and after hospitalization, vaccination costs, etc. It provides coverage for both normal and C-section deliveries. Moreover, if the need arises, it covers the costs of pregnancy termination.
2. Provides NewBorn Baby Coverage
Maternity health insurance also covers the expenses of newborn baby care. A few maternity insurance plans provide newborn baby cover for at least 3 months from the baby’s birth.
3. Provides Financial Support
Maternity health insurance keeps you financially prepared for planned or unplanned pregnancies.
4. Keeps You Stress-Free
The charges of delivery in a private hospital can range from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh. Moreover, deliveries are subject to complications, which may add to this cost. You don’t have to worry about the complications arising in your pregnancy, as your maternity insurance plan will cover the cost of all necessary treatments.
5. Provides Day-Care Treatments
Pregnancy insurance cover provides financial coverage for various doctor and medicinal expenses that require day-care treatments. These include treatments that do not require a patient to be admitted to a hospital for more than 24 hours.
6. Tax Benefits
Health plans with maternity coverage, just like any other insurance policy, extend tax benefits. Therefore, policyholders can claim deductions on the premium paid towards their plan under section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Individuals can claim up to Rs. 25,000 as a deduction under the ITA.
You may purchase maternity health insurance if:
You can keep in mind the following things while choosing your maternity insurance plan:
A maternity health insurance policy should be bought in advance and not right before or during the pregnancy. It should be purchased by people who plan to start a family in the next few years. By doing so, the waiting period of a maternity insurance plan will be over by the time the insured woman gets pregnant
When a woman buys a maternity health insurance policy, the applicable waiting period commences with the policy start date. The policy needs to be renewed every year without any gaps. As soon as the waiting period is over, the maternity cover begins and the insured becomes eligible to raise a claim.
Unfortunately, at present, there are no health insurance plans that provide health insurance with maternity cover and no waiting period. Generally, when we talk about maternity insurance, the waiting period lies between 9 months to 6 years. Therefore, couples and women who plan to start a family in the coming years should buy a maternity insurance policy in advance.
There are two types of claims available – cashless and reimbursement:
Irrespective of the type of claim, you should first ensure that you have crossed your policy’s waiting period. Otherwise, you won’t be eligible to claim the insurance, and your application will be rejected.
As per Section 80D of the Income Tax Act, 1961, maternity insurance policyholders can avail of a tax benefit of up to Rs. 75,000 on annual premium payments.
Follow these steps to make a maternity insurance claim:
To make claims for maternity coverage, one will need these documents. However, some insurance providers may require to provide these documents, among others, to initiate the claim process:
Though the pregnancy insurance plans cover almost everything related to pregnancy, there are a few things that are excluded from the maternity health cover:
Here are a few reasons why you should choose Navi Insurance for your family health insurance plan:
To know more about maternity health insurance you can install the Navi App on Android or iOS.
Every year, thousands of couples get ready to welcome the joys of parenthood. But there could be unforeseen costs arising out of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications. And, any savings made on hospitalization costs depends on the type of health policies that they have taken.
There are many ways in which the costs of planned maternity can be covered through insurance.
For a first-time maternity insurance buyer, one must consider the following important factors while buying the right maternity insurance:
A maternity insurance policy provides extensive financial coverage, which includes most pregnancy-induced expenses. Getting one allows the mother-to-be free from stress and helps avail the best quality treatment and medical facility for safe childbirth. Maternity health insurance is always a wise choice to keep yourself financially prepared. Once you cross the waiting period, you can enjoy all benefits of the maternity plan for welcoming parenthood without fretting about finances.
Ans: As most maternity plans come with a waiting period, you might fail to find a policy that promises to offer benefits by the end of your maternity period.
Ans: Both the methods serve the same purpose. However, the choice depends upon your choice of hospital and if you can bear the initial expenses or not.
Ans: Maternity covers usually come with a long waiting period. Such a period ranges from 2 to 4 years, for which the insured must wait before they can make a claim.
Ans: Health insurance policies with maternity benefits cover various newborn baby expenses for the first 90 days after the child’s birth. After that, the policyholder can list their baby in the base plan.
Ans: Couples planning to have a baby must undertake pre-meditated measures and avail a policy as soon as they are married to ensure coverage.
Ans: Couples who have got married recently and planning to have a child in the next few years are advised to not delay in buying this policy.
Ans: The premium for maternity insurance plans is generally higher than a regular medical insurance plan. The certainty for filing the claim is absolute and hence insurers levy a higher premium on these policies.
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Disclaimer: This article has been prepared on the basis of internal data, publicly available information and other sources believed to be reliable. The information contained in this article is for general purposes only and not a complete disclosure of every material fact. It should not be construed as investment advice to any party. The article does not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the information, and disclaims all liabilities, losses and damages arising out of the use of this information. Readers shall be fully liable/responsible for any decision taken on the basis of this article.