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A glimpse at maternity insurance
Your maternal instincts may leave you craving for a baby. If
you are a working woman, you are permitted to take maternity
leave. But what about maternity insurance? In India maternity
insurance is not offered as a separate policy. It acquires its
place under the Group Insurance policy. So if you are a working
woman you can avail its benefits by asking your boss to provide
you with this insurance policy. This has been a neglected area
for quite some time now. But things are taking a different turn
today.
In the last six months, around 73% of the companies including
pharmaceutical, information technology and manufacturing sectors
have brought group insurance policies, which covers maternity
insurance. In fact a majority of the benefit comes from IT sector.
Cholamandalam General Insurance claims to have sold around 65-70%
of the group polices covering maternity insurance.
For instance in Gujarat, the State Health Department went ahead
with the idea of providing insurance cover to all expectant
women in the State. This move was taken in order to reduce the
maternal and infant mortality rate in the state. Under this
insurance policy, a cover of Rs 10,000 is provided to all expecting
women and a cover of Rs 6,000 for the newborn, in case of complications
arising in the maternity phase. The general insurance companies
have shown a favourable response too.
Under a Group policy, the maternal insurance covers expenses
incurred in hospital or nursing home. The charges for pre and
post hospitalization for a period of 60 days is also covered
which includes charges for other complications that may arise.
United India Insurance offers a mediclaim policy which covers
maternity expenses upto Rs 50, 000 or the minimum sum insured.
For this the policyholder will have to pay an extra premium
in order to be covered under maternity benefits. Since these
policies are not full-fledged maternity policies, they do not
involve some of the basic expenses like the costs involved in
visiting doctors or the medicines prescribed by him. All these
expenses will have to be taken care of individually.
It is hoped that the current situation of benign neglect would
soon change for the better. If it does, maternity insurance
will get its due attention. There are possibilities that it
may be offered as a separate policy. Till then Group policy
will take care of maternity insurance. So next time you hear
your company is going in for a Group policy, remind them of
maternity insurance as well.
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