Good health is the greatest blessing of life. It is true that life would be difficult if you don’t own a healthy body. In today’s world where health-related issues are growing on a daily basis, it becomes difficult to have a healthy life and ensure protection against unwanted medical emergencies. To deal with the same, we take the help of health insurance policies. In today’s market, we have insurance for almost everything, whether it is critical illness, normal hospitalization, old-age, cancer, life, etc. So if we are insuring ourselves from every perspective, then how can we forget about the crucial stage of a woman’s life, which is childbirth? We all are aware of the fact that nowadays childcare costs a bomb. Are you financially ready enough to fight such a cost?
It is true that under a few basic health insurance policies, you might get the benefit of maternity cover, but that is an add-on benefit and it may cover you less compared to a separate maternity plan. It is also very important for you to know that these maternity add-on covers would take time to provide benefits as these come along with a specific waiting period. Under the same, you will not be able to reap benefits until you serve a waiting period of around two or three years. That’s why you need a separate maternity plan that can provide excellent and timely benefits.
A maternity plan covers both normal and cesarean deliveries. There are many companies in India that offer effective maternity plans for expecting parents such as Max Bupa, Apollo Munich, Royal Sundaram, Cigna TTK Health Insurance and many others.
Medical insurance plan for expecting parents
Whenever you are planning to buy a maternity plan, it is very important to check for the inclusions and exclusions of the policy just to avoid any bad experiences that can take place in future because of lack of knowledge. To avoid any dispute at the time of filing a claim, it is always good to have the needful knowledge in advance. You should consult your insurance company in advance about the same. It is always advisable to buy the respective plan online as it is the best and safest medium to get the one. It will also help you in saving your time and hard earned money. Not only this, by choosing the online medium you can compare many plans from top insurance companies at a single platform through which it will be quite easy for you to choose the best plan. Also, most customer service helpline numbers are active 24*7.
What it covers?
Hospitalisation: Pre-hospitalisation expenses of up to 30 days before the delivery and post hospitalisation expenses of up to 60 days after the delivery will be covered.
Pre and Post-Natal costs: Under an effective maternity plan, both normal delivery and caesarean delivery expenses will get the needful cover. Any additional expenses that take place because of pregnancy or/and childbirth are also covered under maternity policy plans.
Costs of Hospitalisation: Room rental expenses, doctor’s fee, nurse charges, and anaesthetist charges are borne by the insurance company. In case the need of a consultant, medical advisor or specialist arises, that fee will also be covered. Ambulance charges are also covered by a maternity policy.
Cost cover for a newborn baby: In case any congenital disease or disorder is detected or in case of hospitalisation of the newborn, coverage is provided for up to 90 days from birth.
Best family health insurance plans for expecting parents:
In India, the number of working women are growing day by day. So, companies are trying to make their workplace more friendly and adaptable for their female employees. As a result, many companies are providing maternity cover plans for their female employees. Below are the top 4 maternity covers:
Max BUPA Heartbeat family floater plan– This plan comes out with the benefit of maternity cover and newborn cover in three variants — silver, gold and platinum. Under the same plan, the charges of first-year vaccinations are also covered. All the three variants of this policy will provide coverage up to two pregnancies.
Star Health Wedding Gift Pregnancy Cover– This plan offers maximum health benefit of Rs 10 lakh. Under this, two pregnancies will get the required cover. It covers both normal and C-section deliveries and also takes care of pre-natal and post-natal expenses.
Cigna TTK Pro-Health Plus Plan– This plan provides coverage for maternity expenses, newborn expenses and vaccination expenses. The waiting period of this policy is 48 months, and the coverage is offered only after the waiting period is served.
Royal Sundaram Master Product – Total health plus- Under this, you will get the coverage of around Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. This plan covers hospitalisation expenses, pre and post-partum expenses, and also offers cover against any complications arising during pregnancy or childbirth. The waiting period for this policy is 3 years.
There is no use of investing in a maternity plan after you conceive as all insurance companies have a minimum waiting period. So, it is always good to invest in the same as early as possible. Just don’t forget to compare insurance quotes online before making any decision.
(By Naval Goel, CEO & Founder of PolicyX.com)
