Are you entitled to maternity insurance? No Indian insurance company offers this cover. But a maternity insurance benefit is available under group covers. And you could ask your employer to buy it for you.
Anita Belani, Country Head, Watson Wyatt, a head-hunting firm, told moneycontrol, In the last six months, 73 per cent of the pharmaceutical, information technology and manufacturing sector companies bought group covers with a maternity insurance benefit. Cholamandalam General Insurance sources say that of 450 group policies they sold last year, 65-70 per cent had maternity benefits.
Heres a look at what the cover offers. Maternity insurance under a group cover takes care of pregnancy-related expenses, surgery, pre-and post hospitalisation for 60 days and complications arising therefrom.
Cholamandalam Gen-eral Insurance provides for pre and post-natal expenses under maternity benefits. If the maximum limit is Rs 50,000, Rs 10,000 takes care of pre- and post-natal expenses.
Not all general insurance companies cover these expenses. This helps when the Rs 50,000 is not exhausted. In which case, the above expenses can be factored in.
Exclusions
Maternity insurance does not cover monthly check-ups and termination of pregnancy in the first 12 weeks. You need to wait nine months before you avail of maternity insurance.
Sources at New India say maternity insurance covers hospitalisation expenses up to Rs 50,000, essentially taking care of hospitalisation anytime during your pregnancy. It does not cover monthly expenses on visits to the doctor.
Factors that influence the price of a group cover: The minimum sum assured should be at least Rs 1 lakh, say New India officials.
The minimum group size Marketing Head, ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Kartik Jain says, depends on a case-to-case basis. New India officials say the minimum size should be 100 employees.
Factors like previous claims experience, the number of days of medical leave taken in the past by the employees, etc, are taken into account before arriving at the premium amount.
The location of your organisation, industry, the continuity of cover, are also considered. In terms of costs, location matters. Medical costs in Mumbai are higher than other cities.
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