Health insurance can assist with prenatal and postnatal costs

While maternity can be one of the most beautiful experiences in a woman’s life, the associated health issues and treatments can put financial pressure on you. So, it’s important to know how your health insurance plan can help you during this time.

Parenthood can be a blissful experience that many parents look forward to. However, rising healthcare expenses can put you under considerable financial stress in the form of prenatal and postnatal costs. Therefore, it’s wise to plan your health insurance in advance and include maternity benefits to enjoy one of the best moments in life without any worry.

Does health insurance cover maternity benefits?

A health plan doesn’t cover maternity benefits by default. However, you can include maternity benefits in your standard health insurance plan by including some specific add-ons, as discussed in the next section.

What are the benefits offered under maternity cover?

A health insurance plan can offer a maternity add-on as a set of 2-3 different add-ons to be taken together. Following are the common maternity add-on covers you can include with your base health insurance policy.

Maternity benefit

It covers both the prenatal and postnatal expenses of the insured person. The coverage can include two deliveries across the policy tenure. Apart from the medical expenses for childbirth of the insured person, it can also cover lawful termination of pregnancy.

Newborn baby coverage

It covers certain medical expenses associated with the insured person’s newborn baby.

Vaccination costs

It is one of the most important health insurance add-ons that covers the vaccination costs incurred on the insured person’s newborn baby. It usually covers all the vaccination costs until the baby is two years old.

Factors to consider while purchasing maternity health plans

A health insurance policy with maternity benefits can help you save significant expenses. However, checking certain factors before making the final purchase is crucial.

Check premium

Maternity health plans can be available at a higher premium compared to regular health plans. So, check the premium amount beforehand to ensure that you have the right budget.

Know the waiting period

All maternity health plans come with a waiting period. It’s the period after purchasing the health policy during which the insurer will not accept any maternity claim. So, it’s vital to check the waiting period of a maternity health policy before buying one.

Network hospitals

Check the list of network hospitals where you can avail of the benefits of the maternity health plan. Your home should be at a drivable distance to the nearest network hospital empanelled by the insurer. Moreover, enquire about the availability of a cashless treatment facility in that hospital.

Extent of coverage

It’s important to understand the extent of coverage in detail. Are there any sub-limits? If yes, how much? Make sure the policy you buy covers the costs adequately, or else it will not be useful to you.

Inclusions and exclusions

A maternity health insurance policy has well-defined terms and conditions regarding what’s covered and what is not covered under the policy. Read the policy documents carefully to know the complete list of these inclusions and exclusions.

For example, ambulance charges, hospital room rent, medication, etc., are some expenses that are included in the policy. However, pre-existing conditions, cosmetic surgery, etc., are excluded from the coverage.

Buy the right health insurance policy with maternity cover

Once you’ve got the right health policy with suitable maternity health cover, you’ll no longer worry about the expenses incurred during pre-natal and post-natal healthcare. And you can fully focus on how to welcome a new life. Happy parenthood!