One of the biggest blessings during a lifetime is that of becoming parents. The very idea of giving birth to your little one can be both emotional and blissful. However, there is another aspect to parenthood that one must not forget about, the additional expenses.
The moment you start planning for a kid, you must also plan your finances as well. The simple reason is that there are a lot of risks and complications that might come along with motherhood. And of course, raising a kid requires lots of proper financial planning.
The availability of health insurance for pregnancy is the first check that one should do. You must also plan for the additional expenses that you will have to take care of immediately after the birth of your child. There is no denying that parenthood comes with a flurry of emotions and if you have to worry about the expenses as well, it can be a bit overwhelming.
Having a maternity insurance plan will ensure that you are not bogged down by such expenses. There are several medical insurance plans which offer maternity benefits. While it is good to have those benefits, they will in most cases leave you wanting for more. Or you might end up still paying from your pockets.
A separate maternity insurance plan is what you should be looking at. In any metro city, a good hospital would charge you anywhere between INR 70,000 to INR 1 Lac for pregnancy. And things can get a bit out of hand if the doctor recommends a C-section.
The Need for a Maternity Insurance Plan
The prices of medical procedures are constantly on the rise. Without proper planning, it will be a daunting task for you to get through maternity. While one should always pray for a smooth and complexity-free pregnancy, there are a lot of factors which are beyond your control. An emergency during pregnancy will easily deplete your savings quickly.
On the other hand, if you have the best maternity health insurance plan, you can concentrate on taking care of your spouse or give the much-needed time to the new member of the family. Rather than constantly worrying about arranging funds.
Among the various types of inflation that our country witnesses, medical inflation is one of the steepest. The 15-18% inflation means that charges will only get higher in the future.
If you plan properly and well in advance, you no longer would have to worry about the expenses. Here is all that you need to know about the coverage of a maternity insurance plan.
- It offers hospital benefits.
- It includes pre-hospitalisation cover up to 30 days and post-hospitalisation cover up to 60 days.
- The plan covers charges such as room charge, consultancy charge, nursing charge, cost of medicines, ambulance charges etc.
- It offers coverage for pre/post-natal expenses, complications during or post pregnancy and expenses related to a normal or caesarian delivery.
- It also offers coverage for the new born baby between 1 to 90 days.
However, the plan doesn’t offer coverage such as medical expenses during pregnancy and expenses that are associated with pre-delivery tests.
Factors to look Into
Before you proceed with buying a health insurance plan for your spouse, here are some things that you should be aware of. Of course, the above-mentioned features should also be on your watch list. It would ensure that you buy a maternity insurance plan that fits into your needs seamlessly.
Waiting Period
Most insurers require policyholders to serve a waiting period before receiving the benefits of a specific illness. Maternity is no different. On average, insurers must serve a waiting period between 2-6 years before making claims. It is thus recommended to buy one at the earliest. Yes, there are a few plans that have 90 days waiting period. But in any case, you will have to serve a waiting period.
Premiums
The premiums for a maternity insurance plan are slightly on the higher side when compared with a health insurance plan. Yet, if you consider all the benefits that it offers, one wouldn’t mind paying the higher premium.
Perks
Most employers offer health insurance plans with maternity benefits. You must do a quick assessment and if you feel it might suffice, then there is no need for a separate plan. If you already have a health insurance plan with maternity benefits, you can claim your employer’s plan and not use your individual plan. And eventually, apply for a no claims bonus and save considerably on renewals.
Best Maternity Health Insurance Plan
Here is a collated list of some of the best plans that you can find across the country at this point in time. The list includes the feature and benefits of the plans.
MaxBupa – Heartbeat Family Floater
The plan offers excellent maternity benefits under three plans, Silver, Gold and Platinum. It offers coverage for maternity as well as baby care post-delivery. It has a unique feature where it covers vaccinations for the very first year. You can avail the benefits of two deliveries.
Royal Sundaram – Total Health Plus
It offers maternity benefits and covers any complications that can arise out of delivery or pregnancy. The only downside to the plan being the waiting period of 3 years. Thus, you would need to plan well in advance.
Cigna TTK – ProHealth Plus Plan
It offers maternity benefits, vaccination charges for the first year and coverage for the newborn. The maximum sum insured is INR 10 Lac under this plan and offers INR 15,000 as normal delivery expenses and INR 25,000 for c-sections. It has a waiting period of 48 months, thus planning is essential.
Apollo Munich Family Floater
The easy family floater plan is available as Standard, Exclusive and Premium. The Exclusive and Premium plans offer maternity coverage while Standard is a normal health insurance plan. The plans include expenses related to maternity and coverage for new born baby from 1-90 days.
Star Health Wedding Gift Pregnancy Cover
This is one of the best wedding gifts that you can hand over to someone. The plan covers two deliveries, both normal as well as C-Section and other pre and post-delivery related expenses. Since it has a waiting period of 3 years, it serves as an ideal wedding gift.
Proper planning has saved the day for ages and will continue to do so. You can also reap the benefits of planning. Plan your pregnancy well in advance and do not forget about the insurance aspect of it. You must buy a maternity health insurance plan well ahead of time so as to get through the waiting periods.
Read more 7 Best health insurance policies for indian women in 2019
