How To Decide Your Maternity Cover?

Selecting the most appropriate health insurance plan with adequate maternity benefits is a crucial decision you need to make. The journey you embark on while on your way to parenthood is full of joy and anxiety for you and your spouse or partner. You need to purchase health insurance coverage with comprehensive maternity benefits to be free from the financial burden of medical expenses, delivery, and pre and post-natal care.  Once you know how to choose a health insurance plan for pregnancy, you can relax and have a stress-free pregnancy full of moments which will be lifelong memories.

When it comes to choosing maternity insurance, the keyword is when. All maternity health insurance policies have a waiting period ranging from two years to six years. Thus, a couple should purchase a maternity health insurance policy as soon as possible after marriage or living together. In this blog, we will take a look at some ways you can decide on a suitable maternity cover.

Top 7 Ways to Decide Your Maternity Cover

The next question is how you should decide on your maternity cover. It would help to consider several factors while choosing your maternity health insurance policy. You must go through these and match your needs with the features offered by different maternity health insurance policies. You need to consider the following points while choosing your maternity health insurance policy:

1. Choosing the Cover Wisely 

The foremost thing you must consider while purchasing a maternity health insurance policy is its coverage. Choose a policy or plan that covers all or at least a majority of the expenses you may expect concerning your maternity-delivery expenses, pre and postnatal expenses, expenses of your newborn baby and so on.

Tip: You should opt for a comprehensive indemnity health insurance plan with adequate maternity coverage, which offers you the maximum coverage so that most of these paraphernalia expenses get covered and you can focus on the baby!

2. Check What Conditions are Covered

Check and understand all the conditions covered under your maternity health insurance policy.  It would help if you were looking for a policy that covers all your expenses for your pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal care.

Tip: Be very careful here, as different policies cover different expenses. Some cover the delivery expenses only, while others cover expenses related to pre- and postnatal care and the expenses of your newborn child in varying degrees.

3. Understand the Type of Coverage Offered

Different maternity health insurance plans offer various types of coverage. You need to ensure that you have all of or at least most of the following coverages in your policy to expect to stay adequately covered:

a. Inpatient Hospitalisation

Your insurance policy should fully cover your surgeon’s and doctor’s fees, room rent, and expenses for nursing incurred during your hospitalisation for your delivery.

b. Number and Type of Deliveries

Check the number and type of deliveries covered by your maternity health insurance plan. The standard number of deliveries covered is two, and both normal and C-section deliveries are to be covered. Check if your policy covers complicated deliveries.

c. Room Rent 

Check if there are any sub-limits set on your room rent. Go for the maternity health insurance policy offering maximum room rent.

d. Pre–Natal and Post–Natal Expenses

Your medical tests and various scans, including ultrasound scans, you have to undergo during your pregnancy should be covered, along with your postnatal expenses.

e. Expenses of Your Newborn Baby

Your maternity health insurance policy should cover the expenses of your newborn child on account of vaccinations and baby formula.

f. Vaccination

Check if your maternity health insurance policy offers coverage for your baby’s vaccination. Most such policies cover your child's vaccinations until the age of one year.

4. Knowing the Terms and Conditions

Different maternity health insurance policies have varied terms and conditions. You need to know the ones applicable to the policy you purchase. Check for these:

a. Waiting Period

Check the waiting period for availing maternity benefits in your maternity health insurance policy. Different policies come with waiting periods ranging from two to six years.

b. Co-Payment Clause

Some maternity health insurance policies require paying a pre-determined fixed percentage of your medical bill.

c. Sub Limits

Check if any sub-limits apply to your maternity health insurance policy. Normally, expenses such as room rent are subject to sub-limits.

d. Deductibles

Your maternity health insurance policy may have a certain percentage of deductibles. Check for the amount which you will have to bear.

e. Exclusions

Every maternity health insurance policy comes with certain exclusions like pre-existing diseases, treatment for infertility, ectopic pregnancy, etc. Check for the exclusions in your policy.

5. Seek Cashless Hospitalisation

Look for a maternity health insurance policy that offers cashless hospitalisation. This feature allows your health insurance company to settle your bills directly, so you will not need to pay an upfront payment.

6. Find Appropriate Add-on Covers to Enhance Your Insurance Coverage

Look for appropriate add-on covers that match your requirements and enhance your maternity health insurance policy.

7. Look for Any Available Discounts

Health insurance companies offer discounts in the region of 5 per cent if you pay online. They often provide substantial discounts on the premium if you pay for an extended period at once.

For example, they offer a 7.5 per cent discount on the second year's premium and a 10 per cent discount on the third year's premium if you pay at once. Look for maternity health insurance policies that offer you such discounts.

You now have a good idea of how to choose maternity insurance, and what to look for in a maternity health insurance policy.

Sum insured is another very important factor you need to consider. Medical trend rate and medical inflation in India were at 14 % in India in 2022 – 23, the highest in Asia, and higher than the global average. The cost of a C- sec delivery is around Rs 2,00,000 in the best facilities in metropolitan cities today. So plan for your sum insured wisely.

Remember that a high sum insured will also result in high premiums. Keeping all these factors in mind, choose your sum insured according to your budget.

Having learnt all about how to choose a maternity health insurance policy, you may want to know which is the best maternity health insurance policy you should purchase. Unfortunately, most health insurance companies in India offer maternity benefits only as an add-on benefit.

Care Health Insurance brings you Care Joy, a product offering maternity health insurance specially designed for young couples planning to start a family. The policy focuses on maternity-related hospitalisation but also covers other hospitalisations while in force.

Care Joy comes in two variants—Joy Today and Joy Tomorrow. It has a maternity waiting period starting from nine months and provides cover for your newborn baby from the first day to the age of ninety days. This policy has an entry age starting at eighteen years for adults, and maternity cover is available for up to 45 years of age.

Care Joy comes with specific benefits and services for maternity

1. Pre-natal customised diagnostics package from SRL for all three trimesters at a discount of 50%
2. A flat discount of Rs 10,000 on the Cord Cell Bank Services offered by CryoViva
3. Discount of up to 25% at SRL for other diagnostics and consultations

These value-added services have no waiting period and may be availed of from the day after you receive the policy kit.

Let us look at the maternity-related benefits of both variants of Care Joy:

Conclusion

You now have a fair idea of what you need to look for in different maternity health insurance policies, compare the features and benefits with your own requirements and make an informed purchase. Pay attention to all the terms and conditions of different policies and the fine print before you purchase.

Disclaimers: The above information is for reference purposes only: Policy Assurance and Claims at the underwriter's discretion.