MATERNITYINSURANCEPLANS

Maternity or pregnancy is an important phase of life, and one needs to prepare in advance to embrace parenthood. Though rearing a child is an expensive affair and may require good financial backup to meet the requirements of a growing baby. From hospital stay to delivery costs to medical tests and medicines, a well-constructed maternity insurance plan can help ease off the rising costs so that you can enjoy the happiest moment of your life without any stress.

WHAT IS MATERNITY INSURANCE?

Maternity insurance is usually provided as an add-on or additional rider with your main health insurance policy. This insurance covers expenses related to both baby delivery options – caesarean and normal delivery. Some insurance service providers prefer to provide maternity benefit as a rider or additional service and lower the burden on your pocket. Some corporates offer their women employees the benefit of maternity insurance along with a health insurance policy.Also, in a majority of corporate group policies, maternity is a rider (add-on benefit) with a sub-limit of not exceeding Rs 50,000.

Some of the benefits of maternity insurance are pre and post hospitalization wherein pre hospitalization costs up to 30 days prior to the date of admission is covered. Expenses such as nursing and room charges, surgeon fee, doctor consultation and anaesthetistconsultation are also covered.

A thorough understanding of inclusions and exclusions in maternity insurance is imperative in order to make sound financial decisions and ensure optimum utilization of the insurance plan.

Let’s now have a look at some of the top health insurance plans with maternity coverage:

1. Royal Sundaram Master Product – Total Health Plus

The Total Health Plus plan offered by Royal Sundaram General Insurance is a complete insurance package that offers benefits up to Rs 30,000-Rs 50,000. This plan covers maternity hospitalization and any complications arising before or after delivery. However, you can avail the maternity benefit only after a waiting period of 3 years. So you should plan for your pregnancy accordingly in order to cover pregnancy hospitalization cost.

2. Apollo Munich Insurance – Easy Health Family Floater

The Easy Health Family Floater plan by Apollo Munich Insurance offers three different insurance plans – Standard, Exclusive and Premium. Though the standard plan is a normal insurance plan with some benefits, the exclusive and premium plans offer maternity and new born coverage. The exclusive and premium options covers maternity expenses incurred both before and after child birth procedures, and new born baby expenses from age 1-90 days.

3. Max Bupa – Heartbeat Family Floater

The Heartbeat Family Floater plan offered by Max Bupa Health Insurance is one of the best plans since it provides coverage for maternity and new born in all of its three plan types – silver, gold and platinum. In this plan, you get maternity coverage and new born baby care including first year vaccinations. All the three types of sub-plans offer maternity benefits up to two deliveries, provided the policyholder and spouse have been covered under the policy for two continuous years.

4. Cigna TTK Health Insurance – ProHealth Plus Plan

The ProHealth Plus Plan offered by Cigna TTK Health Insurance offers maternity, new born expenses and vaccination cover. The maximum health cover on this plan is Rs 10 lakh. This plan mainly provides coverage up to Rs 15000 for normal delivery and Rs 25000 for a caesarean delivery. The maternity coverage is available only after 48 months of waiting period. It also covers the first year vaccinations expenses for your new born.

5. Star Health Wedding Gift Pregnancy Cover

This maternity cover offered by Star Health offers coverage for maximum up to two deliveries. This plan provides coverage for normal as well as caesarean delivery including pre and post-natal expenses, and any post-delivery complication cover for the mother post child birth. There is a waiting period of 3 years and the policy also provides coverage for new born expenses. The maximum health insurance cover is Rs 10 lakh.

Generally, insurance companies lets you enrol or purchase the maternity insurance cover only when you conceive. They do not consider your application if you are already pregnant. Also, maternity insurance policies have a waiting period of 3-4 years before benefits come into play.

“Travesty is a risky business,” said a learned saint, as one cannot foretell what may come by in the coming future. Though clichéd, the impact of the statement can never fade away; Prevention has always been and will always be better than cure.

There are times when you meet with accidents despite giving hundred percent on driving, all because of sheer negligence of the fellow drivers. This is not just a statement, as it has been proved by Road Safety in India Status Report 2015.

With the booming number of vehicles on roads, the people are gradually becoming rash drivers. This has not only resulted in the significant growth of road accidents but is also responsible for the financial loss to the family of the affected person and the employer who is banking on that person. This makes it quite important for the employer to get to know about the terms and conditions of group personal accident insurance and the various benefits one can get from the policy.

This is one such scenario where group personal accident insurance not only helps the employers, but also the employees. Thus, there are a lot of companies that offer their employees group personal accident insurance policy.

In this blog we will discuss why one, who commutes daily cannot afford to ignore Group Personal Accident Insurance.

GROUP PERSONAL ACCIDENT INSURANCE: AN INSIGHT

In case of accidents caused by external means that lead to death or physical injury, a Group Personal Accident Insurance is required. The policy also provides coverage for physical injuries which include partial or permanent disability and death caused due to an unfortunate event of accident.

WHO ALL CAN OPT FOR THIS INSURANCE POLICY?

Public and private sector organizations offer their employees a complete insurance cover. This policy also offers coverage in case of events apart from workplace or residence, for instance, their way to work.

Why the Group Personal Accident Insurance has become a need of today’s generation?

As we are living in a vulnerable phase of life where anything can happen, a group personal accidental insurance policy can help to maintain your savings as well as lower the burden of your medical expenses. The benefit of this policy is that you do not need to get your or your family’s medical check-up done. There are several companies that offer Group Personal Accident Insurance. In such cases, you must not leave the chance of taking the insurance for yourself as well as your dependents.

You may also like to Read: Corporate Group Health Insurance- an Intro

FOLLOWING ARE THE REASONS TO PURCHASE THIS POLICY:

Road Accidents

One of the prime reasons why people need to opt for this policy is the vulnerability to road accidents. As per Ministry of Road Transport and Highway, the mortality rate in road accidents is quite high in India. According to a post on Times of India, more than 400 people lose their lives in road accidentsdaily in India. The reasonsfor these accidents are ignorant behavior, rash driving and not following the proper traffic rules on the road. Due to this, even those who are vigilant while driving have to suffer. On the other hand, if you are insured, then at least you have a monetary backup for your family during such a tough time.

Disability caused due to Accidents

This is quite important for those who are the only earning member in their family. Thus, they need to be cautious from the damages such as partial disability or permanent total disability made due to road accidents. Handling the expenditure incurred to handle any of such disability will make it quite difficult for the family to survive. This is the reason why group personal accident insurance becomes an indispensable need in case of reimbursing the money spent on the losses caused due to accident.

Reimbursement of Hospitalization and Recuperation Expenses

One of the major benefits of purchasing this insurance is it offers reimbursement of hospitalization as well as recuperation expenses. Accidents are a case of emergencies, and this is the reason why insurance is a must in order to render optimal medical care within very less time.

Can be availed worldwide

Taking a group personal accident policy is a fair deal as this policy not just offers accidental cover in India, but also in foreign countries. Therefore, if you are a traveler and if encounter with an accident anywhere abroad then you are eligible to get your hospitalization expenses reimbursed.

IN A NUTSHELL!

Aforementioned pointers are some of the most important reasons why companies ensure group personal accident insurance for their employees. This is specifically important for those who single-handedly run their family as this is their responsibility to shelter and protect their family financially.

No matter whether you go for high sum insured or low, it will be quite enough to offer you proper coverage. When it comes to the employers, make sure to find out best health insurance plans so as to provide insurance to your employees from fatal accidents.

You need to compare to find out the best by insurance policy and then pick out add-ons that help you to enjoy maximum benefit. Make sure to compare the insurance provider and spend time in reading the reviews and rating that has been given to the policy by the existing users.

Health insurance policies are rapidly becoming a critical component of financial planning for any burgeoning family. The accelerating cost of health care combined with increasing inflation rates is squarely putting the burden of medical costs on families belonging to the low and middle income bracket. In all, health insurance serves as a game changer in such situations, allowing families to invest in coverage policies over years and then drawing on the benefits guaranteed by the insurer.

Among the many turning points in life, the birth of a child may be one of the most important events. As such, planning ahead is of utmost importance. Apart from the basic costs of raising a child and providing for a quality education, one of the major areas that you’ll need to financially ensure is that of the child’s health care. The fact is, from birth and up until preteens, children need special care. Given how the cost of health care is spiraling out of control, it would definitely make for a good idea to invest in a children health insurance policy.

CHILDREN HEALTH INSURANCE - WHAT DOES IT COVER?

Broadly speaking, when it comes to children, most insurance carriers tend to focus on the cost of raising a child through education insurance and endowment plans. Some insurers even sell life insurance products specific to children. However, none of these instruments focus exclusively on the cost of health care directly attributable to the child. Investing in a children health insurance policy specifically meant for your child will cost you little on a regular basis but the potential benefits you can derive from it in the long run are immensely useful.

However, in case you are looking for a more comprehensive solution to cover your child, the best option by far would be to opt for a family health insurance plan which doubles up as a children health insurance policy. Such plans generally cover anywhere between 4 and 7 members of the family, including children. Insurers also provide cashless claims, reimbursements and tax benefits through these policies.

The sum assured for each member of the family per year usually ranges between INR 2 lakhs to INR 10 lakhs or more, depending on which insurance carrier you choose to go with. Going for a comprehensive health plan, even for your child is a much more financially feasible option as compared to individual mediclaim children health insurance because that would limit the maximum coverage per individual to only 1 lakh. Anything over and above that amount will have to be paid out of pocket.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CHILDREN HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY

Family floater policies, or what is more commonly known as a comprehensive health care plan, provides multiple benefits in terms of you child’s health. Under such policies you are likely to find value added benefits like health risk assessment, health related counseling and primary consultation with qualified physicians and experts. Critical illnesses are also covered under such comprehensive policies, as is maternity care which forms a big part of expenses related to your child. However, coverage for maternity costs usually has a waiting period attached to it, somewhere in the vicinity of 4 years or less.

WHILE SELECTING A COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH POLICY FOR THE FAMILY, THERE ARE CERTAIN CRITERIA YOU SHOULD LOOK FOR, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO

Policy offering coverage for your child aged 5 years and upwards.
Children younger than 5 years should be covered under the policy (if both parents are already) from the 91st day onwards.
Policy offering the maximum renewal ceasing age (should ideally be a lifetime renewable policy)
Policies offering the highest amount of coverage for your child, both treatment and copay wise.
Although not applicable in case of children, opt for policies which cover preexisting conditions.

However, the most important thing before you choose to buy into a children health insurance policy is to read the fine print in detail. Understanding the policy wording is key to figuring out how effective your children health insurance policy is and exactly what is covered and/or excluded from being covered.