Does Your Health Insurance Offer Coverage For Maternity Expenses?

Parenthood is one of the most special phases in a couple’s life. While it opens a whole different world from becoming a husband-wife to a father-mother, it is challenging too. Moreover, the mothers need to be extra-careful during the pregnancy stage.

Why is a maternity cover important in health insurance plans?

Complications during pregnancy are commonly heard of but they are not the same for all females. Some females face different challenges than others, while a few face more serious ones. That’s when a health insurance comes to the rescue. To tackle the increasing cost of healthcare, these policies extend to provide coverage specifically during pregnancy and childbirth.

What is the coverage of maternity insurance plans?

Health insurance policies with maternity cover include both types of childbirth, natural as well as caesarean. With a maternity cover included in your health insurance plan, the primary advantage is lower out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to covering the costs related to childbirth. These plans come handy especially for the complications arising during labour and post-natal care. *Standard T&C Apply

What are the different maternity benefits covered in health insurance policies?

1. Pre- and post-natal coverage

Expecting mothers require constant care, even before labor begins. There is periodic check-up that needs to be done to ensure the mother as well as the child are both healthy. Any medicine prescribed at such stage do not stop immediately on childbirth. Hence, a maternity health insurance with pre- and post-natal coverage take care of all these medical expenses before as well as after the delivery. Bajaj Allianz General Insurance plans cover such expenses 30 days before the delivery whereas up to 60 days based on the type of insurance cover.*

2. Medical expenses for delivery

It is necessary you only go to a medical facility where the doctors are skilled as last-minute complications are common during childbirth. To tackle these unexpected situations, hospitals charge hefty bills and a maternity cover in health insurance plans for family takes care of such expenses.*

3. Coverage for newborn baby

Any congenital diseases and other complications for the baby is covered up to 90 days from birth with a maternity insurance cover.*

4. Coverage for vaccination

Vaccination cover is also available for the newborn depending on the type of policy opted for. This includes the mandatory vaccinations for the baby during the first year including immunisation for polio, tetanus, diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, hepatitis, etc.* *Standard T&C Apply

What are the things to consider when buying a maternity health cover?

With a plethora of maternity plans to choose, selecting the right policy requires you to take into account the following considerations:

• Policy inclusions:

• Since maternity expenses begin from the early days of pregnancy and continue even after childbirth, it is best to keep in mind what is covered by the policy. Without an insurance cover, all of these costs can be too much to bear.

• Sub-limits:

• There are various sub-limits in health insurance policies and they significantly restrict the amount of expenditure covered. Thus, it is essential to opt for a policy that has minimum sub-limits to ensure most of the maternity-related expenses are covered by the insurance policy.

• Waiting period:

• A crucial condition for a maternity plan is the waiting period. Such waiting period can range from 2 years to 4 years and hence, it is important to account for it when buying a maternity cover. Also, the maternity covers bought during pregnancy will not be available as pregnancy is considered as a pre-existing condition.

• Premium amount:

• The importance of premium cannot be ignored. While you may wish the maternity policy covers it all, the premium also needs to be affordable. Thus, balancing the premiums and the features is essential. A health insurance premium calculator is a useful tool that can be used to determine the premium based on the features opted for.

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