All About Maternity Insurance

Maternity insurance is an insurance product that covers maternity related expenses. This was not covered until few years ago but because of increased awareness and competition, many insurers are covering it under the health insurance plan. This concept is not very popular in India but it is slowly catching up.

Maternity coverage is provided as a rider on a main health insurance package. You can pay extra premium to get the coverage. Some insurance companies do not charge extra premium but put a waiting period and cap the expenses claimed under maternity coverage. Some insurance companies cover it under OPD expenses. In majority of the cases, maternity insurance is covered by group policy in the company.

Currently all major insurance providers such as ICICI Lombard, Max Bupa, Apollo Munich, Star health, and others provide it as rider to the main health insurance.

Why should you take it

Maternity expenses are increasing because of increased complexity in delivery. Today the cost comes anywhere between Rs 25,000 to 1 lakh. Maternity insurance is a good way to reduce the burden on your pocket.

Important Points

First, you should check with your company whether maternity is already covered by group insurance plan. Most of the companies cover employees under a group plan. This is the best option.

Secondly, if you already have a health insurance plan, check if there is option to add maternity rider. Usually insurance companies are more open and liberal to give this rider if you have been doing business with them for some time.

There are some important points you should keep in mind while planning to add maternity insurance.

1. There is usually a waiting period of 3-6 years. This means you can only claim the maternity benefits after 3-6 years from the day you take health insurance. In case of group insurance under company plan, the waiting period is 9 months.

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