Are you planning for a child? Consider getting Health Insurance for your wife

If your wife is expecting your child, a good insurance cover is a must have these days. According to recent reports, the average age for women to accept motherhood has risen to 32 to 33 years in India. There is a common belief that women who gives birth to their first child in their early 30s tend to have complicated pregnancies. Similarly, the ratio of caesareans compared to normal deliveries stood at 65:35 in metropolitan cities. Therefore it is necessary to opt for maternity health insurance.

Let us look at some of the features and benefits of maternity health insurance:

Waiting Period: Majority of maternity health insurance policies come with a waiting period of 3 to 6 years in which policyholders can only claim benefit after the decided period of time post beginning of the insurance policy.

Coverages: It generally varies from one insurance provider to the other, but general expenses will be:

• Expenses for hospitalization (within a limit)
  
• Pre-hospitalization expenses for 30 days
  
• Post hospitalization expenses for 60 days that include room charges, anesthetist charges, and nursing expenses
  
• Expenses incurred during delivery
  
• In special cases, vaccination of the infant
  
• Charges for ambulance
  
• Pre and post-natal expenses, which will depend on the nature of delivery – caesarean & normal
  
• Cover for baby, if he/she is diagnosed with congenital disorders
  
• A lot of insurance providers also cover emergencies for an amount up to Rs. 50,000
  

Premium: A health insurance policy that includes maternity benefit is generally expensive as it is measured as a high risk product with an almost 100% claim ratio when compared with other insurance policies. The premium when higher than basic policies, depends on factors that are mentioned below:

• The industry type
  
• Risk factors
  
• Age profile
  
• The total count of employees in case of group policies
  
• The location of the company in case of group policies